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EXPERIENCES 



OF THE 



GREAT WAR 



ARTOIS 

ST. MIHIEL 

MEUSE-ARGONNE 



By ASHBY WILLIAMS 

LiEUT.-CoL. Inf. U. S. Army 






COPYRIGHT. 1919 

BY 

ASHBY WILLIAMS 



OCT 27 1920 



©CI,A601iaO 



PREFACE. 



This Record of my Experiences in the Great War was begun 
shortly after the Armistice when the events were fresh in my 
mind, and solely for the purpose of preserving them in my own 
memory. This statement is made as an apology for the many 
personal references in the account. The work was well on its 
way to completion before it became apparent that there would 
be no other detailed and continuous account of the events herein 
recorded ; and many men and officers expressed a desire to have 
a copy of the account, and this book is published in response to 
that desire and largely for their special benefit. It will be a 
very happy coincidence, however, if others shall find in it some- 
thing to increase their appreciation of the heroic service and 
sacrifices of the men whose names are recorded here, or to stim- 
ulate a greater pride in their achievements. 

Nothing has been written herein merely for the purpose of 
appealing to the popular imagination ; the facts stated are histori- 
cally accurate, and movements, battles and other events are based 
upon orders and copies of orders in my possession. 

I am indebted beyond measure to my Orderly in the War, 
Corporal Leon M. Bazile (who is referred to on many occasions 
in the book) for his painstaking collection of data as to dead, 
wounded and missing, and the participants in the great battles, 
and for his valuable suggestions made in the course of the prep- 
aration of the book; and I am indebted also to Corporal David 
Shiflf, the Battalion Clerk, who spent many hours in typewriting 
the manuscript. 

ASHBY WILLIAMS, 

Roanoke, Va., June 20th, 1919. 



PRESS OF 

THE STONE PRINTING AND MANUFACTURING CO. 

ROANOKE. VIRGINIA 

1919 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR. 



CHAPTER I 

THE DEPARTURE FROM CAMP 

It was five o'clock on the afternoon of the seventeenth day of 
May, 1918, that my command, "E" Company, 320th Infantry, was 
lined up in front of the "Upper Barrack" at Camp Lee, Virginia, 
preparatory to leaving for the Great War. The men, in full equip- 
ment, and the officers completely togged up for foreign service, 
had previously taken part in a battalion parade. As we passed 
out Thirty-first Street and along Avenue B, on the way to the 
train, soldiers had lined both sides of the way and cheered us as 
we passed. Some people whom I knew called to me as I marched 
at the head of my column and bade me Godspeed. The men were, 
for the most part, silent. They were wondering, no doubt, how 
many of us who had started out on that great journey would ever 
return. And I confess, for my own part, that a lump came in my 
throat as I answered those who called to me, and the tears would 
not keep back. I remember Mrs. McQuillen, mother of one of 
my lieutenants, who came to tell him good-bye ; she strove hard 
to keep back the tears as I shook hands with her. Reverend Mr. 
Nelson was at the train and insisted upon my stepping aside to 
take a snapshot of me togged up in my foreign service equipment. 

We were soon aboard the train, men and packs and every- 
thing, including Pete, a black and tan bulldog, the mascot of "E" 
Company. It shall be my melancholy duty to report later the 
manner of his taking off. We reached Lambert's Point by ten 
o'clock that night and got aboard a ship, and by twelve o'clock, 
exhausted by the fatigue and emotion of the day, were sound 
asleep in our bunks. 

The next morning (May 18th) shortly before noon we slipped 
out of the harbor so quietly that many of us did not know the 
ship had left until we chanced to go on deck. 

The ship was called the Duke D'Abruzzi. She was an old 
Italian liner which we understood had been engaged for a number 
of years in commercial traflfiic between the Mediterranean Sea 
and South American ports. She was a dirty old ship of about 400 
feet in length, with enough staterooms to accommodate the officers 
and some of the sergeants, and fitted up below the main deck 
with tier upon tier of canvas bunks for the men. The men's 



6 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

quarters would have been fairly comfortable but for the fact that 
they were below decks and lighted and ventilated only by the 
portholes, which had to be closed and kept closed at night to keep 
out the heavy seas and to prevent the lights from shining out 
for the benefit of lurking submarines. 

There were on board the ship the following troops : 

2d Battalion 320th Infantry ; 

315th Machine Gun Battalion; 

A detachment of the 319th Infantry; and the 

160th Brigade Headquarters ; 

making a total, including the crew of one hundred men, of about 
one thousand eight hundred souls aboard the ship. Brigadier 
General Lloyd M. Brett, the commanding general of the 160th 
Brigade, was in command of the troops, and two naval officers 
acted in conjunction with the Italian ship's officers in the direction 
of the ship's movements. 

THE TRIP ACROSS THE OCEAN 

The next day out at sea we were joined by eight other ships, 
some of them carrying troops as we were, and one laden with 
naval stores, making a total of nine ships in the convoy. They 
were, indeed, a curious lot, with their camouflage of paint and 
false funnels and all that. There was one painted so that it looked 
like two ships, and another fixed up to appear as if going in the 
opposite direction, and so on, everything to deceive the dreaded 
submarine torpedo. All distinctive markings were, of course, 
eflfaced, to prevent the Boche from getting identifications, but 
notwithstanding this we learned the names of some of them. 

There was the Re d'ltalia, the slowest ship in the convoy, 
carrying the First Battalion of our regiment, which I was destined 
afterwards to command in the great war. and there was the 
President Lincoln, a huge ship carrying five thousand men, and 
others we could not learn the names of. 

Our escort consisted at first of one American cruiser, the 
Huntington, so we were informed, and, I think, two torpedo boat 
destroyers. Later on we were joined by five other boats of the 
latter class. The work of the escort ships was wonderful ; they 
had a speed of as high as thirty knots an hour, and this great 
speed enabled them to shoot in and out and around the flanks 
and to the front when anything suspicious appeared on the 
horizon. Their vigilance enabled us to maintain an even and 
uninterrupted speed of twelve knots along our zigzag course. 
On about our fifth day out most of these torpedo boat destroyers 
left us for a time and we were informed that they had gone to 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 7 

the Azore Islands for fuel oil. While they were gone the cruiser 
was like an old hen with nine chickens. With her great speed 
she would shoot around to the flanks and to the front and some- 
times to the rear of the convoy in response to wireless messages 
picked up, or when anything suspicious appeared above the waves. 
One day, I remember, she sighted something on the horizon to our 
right front and she took out after it with all speed and when 
almost "over the hill" she signalled back frantically with powerful 
lights : "Change direction forty-five degrees to the left." In less 
than five minutes every ship in the convoy was headed in the new 
direction. Of course there was great excitement and there was 
much speculation as to the cause of this sudden change in direc- 
tion, and the news sifted through to us that the cruiser had sighted 
submarines chasing ships that were going back to America. 

Of course everybody was on the qui vive and everybody was 
straining his eyes toward the horizon. One can, therefore, 
imagine the excitement which we experienced when about in 
mid-ocean we discovered a number of specks appearing upon the 
horizon ahead of us. The cruiser immediately went out in that 
direction and sent back word that the torpedo boat destroyers that 
had left us for the Azore Islands were coming back, and in a 
very short time all the torpedo boat destroyers were around us 
and we felt very much more secure. 

SUBMARINES 

Submarines was the topic, of course, of most discussion. 
Every precaution that it was possible for us to take was taken 
against them. We wore our life preservers always when awake 
and kept them close to our heads when asleep. In fact, a great 
many men slept in them at night as they were warm. A sub- 
marine watch was organized with Lieutenant Martin, one of my 
officers, in command of it. Twelve men stood watch all night 
from points of vantage on ship. There was also on duty a regu- 
lar guard with twenty-five or thirty sentries stationed about the 
ship to prevent lights at night, or to prevent articles being thrown 
overboard that would give a clue as to our passage, and for the 
purpose of enforcing other regulations for the safety of the 
ship. Besides this, there was the daily "Abandon ship" drill when, 
at the sound of a bugle, all men would rush to their proper places 
in line on deck, and diflferent parties would assemble at the life- 
boats and rafts. 

It was determined also that in case of a submarine attack the 
ship would be divided into four parts, an officer in command of 
each, to direct and control the men in case of attack. The ship 
was divided as follows : Bow, under the command of Major 



8 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

Holt; Port, under command of Major Rothwell ; Stern, under 
command of Captain Price ; and the Starboard under my com- 
mand. This was, by far, the most tickHsh job that I had ever 
tackled, at least that was the way I felt about it, and I confess to 
having spent many anxious hours in connection with this duty. 
To take care of myself in case of a submarine attack was a pretty 
big job but to have to undertake to control and direct the conduct 
of between three and four hundred men at such a time as that 
was quite another matter. 

Many perplexing problems presented themselves to my mind. 
The men had been drilled to stand in line at "attention" and not 
to move without command of the proper officer. I had made a 
pretty accurate survey of the ship with special reference to its 
bulkheads and had made up my mind that she would have to be 
struck either at a point separating two of the compartments or 
amidships into the boiler room before she would sink, and this 
opinion gave me a certain amount of assurance. But it was only 
an opinion and one can never tell where a torpedo will strike a 
ship, nor what the ship will do when she is struck. If she were 
struck on the starboard side and listed in that direction, the prob- 
lem was how soon should we jump, or whether we should jump 
at all, considering that she might right herself sufficiently to float ; 
if she were struck on the port side and listed in that direction, at 
what time should we jump, considering the fact that if she listed 
far enough we could not jump at all. Such perplexing thoughts 
as these occupied a great many of my waking moments aboard 
the Duke D'Abruzzi. 

On the eighth day out we had a real submarine scare. There 
appeared on the surface of the water in the midst of the convoy 
an object which resembled the back or side of a submarine awash. 
It did not appear until after our ship had passed it. At any rate, 
when it came into view, every ship in the convoy (all were armed 
fore and aft with 3-inch guns), as well as the torpedo boat 
destroyers, opened fire. Of course when the ships opened fire, the 
"Abandon ship" call was sounded and every man rushed to the 
deck to his place in line. At the same time all ships put on full 
speed, determined to give the Boche as wide a berth as possible. 
There are those who say it was a submarine, and others who say 
it was a dead whale or a capsized lifeboat, but all of them thought 
that it was best to shoot first and investigate afterwards. 

On our tenth day out we reached deep water. Theretofore 
depth had been measured by fathoms, now it was measured in 
miles. Indeed the great ground swells made the surface of the 
ocean resemble the hills and valleys of rolling prairie land. All 
of us passed over the choppy seas without the slightest touch of 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR V 

any interior uneasiness and many of the young men had boasted 
like an "old salt" of their ability to sail the sea. 

THE DEATH OF "PETE" 

There was much to do and no time was lost on board ship. 
Reveille in the morning, breakfast, and drill and exercises around 
the promenade deck. It was during one of these exercises that 
Pete, the mascot of "E" Company, came to grief. He was tired of 
being cooped up below decks and wanted some exercise and 
slipped out and began to run around with the men. Unfortu- 
nately, General Brett got a glimpse of him and he asked me whose 
dog it was and how it happened to be on the ship. I told him that 
it belonged to "E" Company and that no one seemed to know how 
it got aboard. Later some official correspondence passed between 
General Brett and myself in regard to "a black and tan bulldog, 
named Pete." The next day at dinner General Brett said to me : 
"If that dog lands in France it is going to go very hard with a 
certain Captain aboard this ship." I had no doubt who that Cap- 
tain was, and I knew also that there were strict orders against 
landing dogs in France. The next day, therefore, Captain Taylor 
was Officer of the Day and I told him that I thought it was his 
duty to dispose of Pete, as I did not have the heart myself to do 
it, although Pete was crippled from many fights and had the 
mange and was not much good anyway. The next day, therefore, 
Captain Taylor took him into the infirmary and tried to chloro- 
form him, but Pete seemed to "smell a rat" and would not be 
chloroformed. Captain Taylor then tied an iron to his neck 
and threw him overboard. That night I told General Brett that 
Pete had been disposed of and the manner of his taking off. 
The General turned pale and would not eat any more supper 
but excused himself and went to his stateroom. Whether he was 
ill or whether the story of the dog's death had turned his appetite 
I do not know ; but I think it was the latter, because he was a 
gentleman of great sympathy and kindness of heart and I know 
it hurt him to think that he had had anything to do with injuring 
any living creature. 

Much of our time aboard the ship was spent in studying for 
officers' school, which exercises, of course, delighted us very much. 
After supper the officers would assemble in the main salon and 
Lieutenant "Joe" Tydings, Captain "Fred" Maag, and Lieutenant 
"Aqua" Waters delighted us with their songs and imitations of 
Bert Williams. It was there also that we discovered that Lieu- 
tenant "Sleepy" Bixler was an artist when it came to getting 
music out of a piano. No one ever thought of submarines in 
the salon after supper. 



10 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

By far the most interesting part of the ship was the dining 
salon. It easily held the sixty-odd ofificers aboard the ship. There 
was a life-size painting of the Duke D'Abrnzzi, that famous 
nobleman who almost married one of our American heiresses, 
for whom the boat had been named. General Brett sat at a table 
at the upper end of the salon, with his back to that portrait. 
Major Rothwell was at his right and Major Holt at his left with 
Major Eby, the brigade adjutant, at the foot of the table. I sat 
next to Major Rothwell with Lieutenant Ray Miller on my right, 
and Lieutenants Vandewater and Benny Weisblatt across the 
table from us. The three lieutenants were the General's aides. 
This was, indeed, a very happy party. Poor Benny Weisblatt 
never ate anything except a boiled egg now and then or some 
soup. We had lots of fun at his expense, but he took it always in 
good part. We consoled him by telling him that he wasn't seasick 
but homesick, as he had left a brand new wife in the States, and 
that anyway the only cure for seasickness was dry land. 
Major Eby, at the foot of the table, always ordered a second 
helping of every dish ; it was a pleasure to watch him eat. He 
always had time, however, to wedge in a joke or two, which he 
never failed himself to enjoy immensely. Major Rothwell, a 
quiet gentleman, always told his jokes without a smile, but they 
were good. Unfortunately he had stayed on deck a good deal and 
the sun and wind had peeled the skin off his nose and turned it 
red, and he was thereby brought under slight covert suspicion in 
certain quarters. But General Brett was the life of the table. 
His comments upon people in history, and his stories of the Indian 
wars, and his long service in the army, always entertained and 
delighted us. As I look back upon this boat trip I have nothing 
to be so glad of as the fact that I had the opportunity of becom- 
ing really acquainted with General Brett. He was always the 
gentleman, always the soldier, in the highest sense. He was a 
pleasure and a benefit and an inspiration to me. He got the best 
out of life so that his long service enriched and enobled his 
character. He knew men's rights and he knew men's duties and 
he knew what men could stand. The highest compliment I can 
pay him is to say that on many occasions when problems have 
confronted me I have thought what General Brett might or would 
have done, and have been benefited by the thought. 

THE SUBMARINE ATTACK 

Land came in sight on the thirteenth day of our trip. May 30th. 
It was Belle Isle, a rock-bound island off the coast of France, in 
the Bay of Biscay. There was great joy at the sight of land. We 
did not stop to think that this was the thirteenth day of our trip 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 11 

and that something unusual must happen before we finally set 
our feet on land, but it was not long before it happened. I remem- 
ber that I was standing near the top of the stairs leading to the 
bridge. I noticed a constant ridge under the water in front of 
the big liner on our right, much as if some huge fish were plowing 
his way toward the boat. I was suspicious of it and I called the 
attention of an officer who was standing near me, to it. The liner 
on our right passed over it, and immediately began to toot her 
whistles as a signal of distress. In a moment or two every ship 
in the convoy, as well as the torpedo boat destroyers of the escort, 
opened fire behind us. It was the submarines. Instantly every 
ship in the convoy put on full steam ahead. The torpedo boat 
destroyers darted in and out amongst us firing as they went. 
Now and then one of them would hover over a suspicious place 
and drop depth bombs, those terrible things that sink under water 
and then explode, crushing and destroying with their concussion 
anything in a wide radius and carrying terror to the heart of the 
submarines. These ships fire on the periscope, destroying it and 
blinding the submarine, and then rush on it and drop bombs, 
much in the same fashion as a man would knock another down 
with his fist and then jump on him with his feet to make sure 
that he was dead. We learned afterwards that there were ten 
submarines that took part in the attack and that our war vessels 
sunk two of them. But however many there were, they over- 
shot their mark and were taken by surprise by our ships and 
subjected to such a fire that not a single torpedo reached its mark ; 
for which we, of course, were profoundly thankful. 

That was the first time we had ever really been in the presence 
of death and I think it is no discredit to say that every man's 
heart was in his mouth. But when the bugle sounded the "Aban- 
don ship" call every man went to his place in line or at the rafts 
ready in almost pathetic grandeur to obey orders and to take 
whatever might befall. But thanks to the speed of our ships and 
the splendid work of the torpedo boat destroyers, no harm came 
to us. We sailed on at top speed until we reached the inner 
waters of the Bay of Biscay. Here our ships slowed down and 
took up single file to enter the mouth of the Loire River, leading 
to St. Nazaire. 

INTO PORT ST. NAZAIRE 

I shall never forget that afternoon as we glided into the inner 
harbor betwen the rows of mines that had been planted to pro- 
tect us against the submarines. The sun was just going down 
over the waters in the west. It was like a great ball of fire, purple 
and red and pink and gradually shading off into the blue of a 



12 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

cloudless sky. We stood there, leaning against the rail, looking 
at it. Perhaps it looked more beautiful to us because it was just 
then shining on those we loved many miles across the sea and 
on the other side of the earth. On board ship we had seemed like 
one great family, and so long as we did not see land we did not 
realize that we were so far away from those we loved, but when 
we reached the coast of France and realized that we were soon 
to land in a foreign country, there was a lump in the heart we 
had not felt, and sometimes a lump in the throat too. Many a 
homesick boy looked out at that sunset as we glided into the 
harbor and thought of the loved ones on whom it was shining 
and prayed that he might be spared to return to them again. 
Some of those prayers will be answered, many of them we know 
cannot be answered. 

We anchored in the inner harbor for the night, and in the 
morning (May 31st) steamed up the Loire River and tied to one 
of the docks in St. Nazaire. It was a beautiful spring day, warm 
and sunny ; so different from the cold winds we had encountered 
almost throughout the trip. I remember while we were waiting 
to debark (while the harbor master was going over the ship's 
papers, or something of that sort) we all lined up at the rail and 
had great sport throwing pennies to the little French urchins who 
scrambled on the cement wharf for them. Some old women 
joined in the scramble, too. I remember also the American sol- 
diers on shore bandying with our boys on the ship. One of our 
boys said : "I thought you came over here to fight." The other 
replied : "Well, you don't seem to have been doing much of it. 
Where have you been ?" And this is the answer he got : "I have 
been back home looking after your girl." But it was all good- 
natured. They were glad at heart to see each other. 

THE REST CAMP 

We soon debarked and marched through the city to a "rest 
camp" about three miles distant. As we passed through the 
streets nobody seemed to pay much attention to us, even the 
women did not seem to have any curiosity. This was perhaps a 
keen disappointment to a great many of the Americans who 
thought that all France would turn out to greet us. I noticed 
that the women were all in black, and the impression was then 
indelibly made upon my mind that France was a land in mourning 
for her dead. At any rate we reached the "rest camp" shortly 
after mid-day. These places were called "rest camps" evidently 
by some humorous person in the War Department at Washington, 
although there was more tragedy than humor about them. The 
barracks for the men were little old low buildings about a hundred 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 13 

feet long and twenty feet wide with an aisle down the middle 
flanked on either side by rows of double-deck bunk racks. There 
was a large pile of hay called "straw for bedding" from which 
the men filled their bed-sacks. Nobody knew how deep the dust 
was. The men were brought to this place to rest after their long 
journey and to wash their clothes ; but as a large number of the 
men were detached for stevedore duty at the docks, and as the 
water supply was not sufficient to enable them to wash their 
clothes, the "rest camp" idea was a mere theory. 

But everybody had time to write a letter or two, and the 
censors were busy in those days. Judging from some of these 
letters (I censored some of them) it is remarkable how quickly 
our men gained a comprehensive and accurate knowledge of the 
great French people! One thing they never failed to comment 
on, that was how long the days were. At nine-thirty o'clock it 
was still daylight. We could not realize that we had gone so far 
north of the latitudes of our own homes. They noticed, too, that 
there were no frame houses in France, that all the women were in 
black, that French streets are very narrow, and a thousand other 
thing that I cannot recall. I remember the first time I went down 
town to get a good meal. I did not even know how to ask for a 
glass of water. I look back now on that time with real sorrow 
in my heart for myself when I reflect that now I am an accom- 
plished French scholar when it comes to asking for something to 
eat. 

CHEVAUX 8; HOMMES 40 

After a four days' stay at the "rest camp" at St. Nazaire our 
Battalion (the Second, of which "E" Company was a part) 
entrained for Calais. That was on the third of June. We marched 
down through the city and got aboard one of those little dinky 
French troop trains so like a toy compared with our great Ameri- 
can railway trains. The cars were box cars about twenty feet in 
length and of the ordinary width, with doors on both sides. They 
were marked on the side in French: "Chevaux 8; hommes 40," 
which means that they had a capacity of 8 horses or 40 men. One 
of our men wrote home that he was touring France in a new French 
car called the "Chevaux 8." We loaded our men in the cars, 
thirty-six to a car and full equipment and rations for four days. 
I can tell you that there was no room to spare in those cars. The 
officers' cars were, of course, much better. They were for the most 
part second and third class passenger cars with four independent 
compartments entered from the outside and sufficient in size to 
accommodate four officers, though more than four were 
crowded into some of these compartments. There were no toilets 
in either the men's or the officers' cars. With all our equipment 



14 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

and rations our cars looked more like picnic trains than troop 
trains bent on serious business. My compartment contained, in 
addition to myself, Lieutenant Tydings, lieutenant Martin and 
Lieutenant McQuillen. Liutenant Tydings was the cook and 
general housekeeper of the party. He entered into the spirit of 
it, as he always entered into the spirit of anything he undertook, 
with so much enthusiasm that he made canned bully beef and 
beans seem really palatable. 

We pulled out of St. Nazaire about noon. Our first stop was 
at the ancient and historic city of Nantes. Here we saw from 
the train the women washing their clothes in the Loire River. It 
was at Nantes also that all our plans for getting the soldiers off 
and on the trains at stops went awry. We had planned to have the 
bugler sound a call for the men to get ofif and then sound a call 
five minutes before the departure of the train to enable the men 
to get aboard, but the bugler strayed too far at Nantes and the 
train pulled out and left him. As a matter of fact, there was no 
way of telling when the train would stop or, if it stopped, when 
it would start again. Even the engineer did not know when he 
would stop or start, as he received orders at each stop when to 
start and where to stop next. This was necessary on account of 
the number of troops trains using the railroads in France. 

But slowly we went on our journey. We passed through his- 
toric Normandy from which came our ancestors who conquered 
Britain, and through that famous city of Rouen, the birth place of 
William the Conqueror, the Capital of the Dukes of Normandy 
and the city that witnessed the burning at the stake of Joan of 
Arc. It was here also that Guy de Maupassant wrote his fasci- 
nating stories that have delighted so many American readers ; 
and Comeille first staged his model dramas that have charmed 
the literary world. 

We passed through Boulogne, that famous city at which 
Napoleon assembled his army in 1805 for his projected invasion 
of England. We later had occasion to remember Boulogne as the 
place where we were compelled to store most of the things we 
had bought in the States to use and wear in France, such as bar- 
rack caps, white shirts, extra suits for fine wear and most of the 
socks and sweaters and such things knit by the hand of kind 
friends on the other side of the world. 

One incident I recall on that trip that touched every man on 
the train to the very heart. Shortly after we had passed 
Boulogne we stopped at a way station and on the siding opposite 
us was a train of box cars loaded with refugees from Belgium, 
haggard women and little boys and hungry little children who 
stretched out their little arms and begged for bread. The Ameri- 
can boys literally threw things at them. I recall one little fellow 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 15 

who was almost caught under the wheels as their train pulled out 
when he jumped off to pick up a piece of bread one of the men 
had thrown off. The appeal of these hungry children was so 
touching and the response of the American boys so generous that 
an order had to be issued against throwing food stuffs off the 
train. I believe after seeing the poor refugees, thrown from their 
homes and driven into a strange country, hungry and half-clad, 
by the Germans, every man on that train was glad at heart that 
he had come to fight the Germans and was anxious to get in the 
fray. Nothing has ever touched me quite so deeply as that 
pathetic and tragic scene. 

Of course we passed many Hospital Trains bringing wounded 
from the British front in Belgium. 



16 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 



CHAPTER II 



AT CALAIS WITH THE BRITISH 

We reached Calais shortly before noon on the fifth of June. 
After this ride of two days and nights, cramped in quarters that 
gave the men hardly room to stretch themselves, and eating the 
cold bully beef and beans and bread, there was no mistaking the 
delight of the men to get ofif and find their legs again. The con- 
duct of my troops was for the most part fine. The only regrettable 
circumstance was that some of my men had gotten wine at some 
place and had taken a little too much, and a few of them had to 
be placed under arrest. In this number were two of my ser- 
geants, whom I regretted to have to reduce to the ranks. It might 
be said that the boat trip and the "rest camp" at St. Nazaire and 
the train trip were enough to drive a man to drink, but discipline 
was strict and that sort of thing could not be tolerated. I think 
I should have taken to drink myself if it had not been for a case 
of canned peaches which "Joe" Tydings smuggled in in some way 
or other at St. Nazaire. 

At Calais we marched direct to another "rest camp," this time 
a British one about two miles out of town. We could see that the 
Boche had been very active here because the city was almost 
completely deserted except for soldiers ; and for those who 
remained as well as for the British soldiers in time of need great 
lines of dugouts and shell-proofs had been constructed between 
the city and the rest camp, and air-craft guns, as we afterwards 
had occasion to find out, were stationed everywhere. This British 
"rest camp" consisted of row upon row of conical army tents so 
constructed that the floor of the tent was about twelve inches 
below the surface of the ground to protect the occupant against 
the lateral bursts of aerial bombs. This city of tents was erected 
upon a plain of sand. 

It was at Calais that we first came in touch with the British 
army. Our men seemed to take at once a violent dislike for 
everything that was British. It is difficult to analyze the reasons 
for this first impression. It was doubtless due in large part to 
the fact that the British Tommy had been at the game a long time 
and he assumed a cocksure attitude toward everything that came 
his way ; perhaps to the fact that most of the Britishers with 
whom the men came in contact were old soldiers who had seen 
service and had been wounded in the fighting line and sent back 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 17 

to work in and about the camp, and they looked with some con- 
tempt on these striplings who had come in to win the war. Per- 
haps it was due to the fact that on the surface the average Brit- 
isher is not after all a very lovable person, especially on first 
acquaintance. At any rate our men did not like the British. 
Most of all they did not like the British ration which was very 
much smaller than the American ration and also very different. 
But the British had been at the game a long time and they 
knew how it was played. They had resolved war into a busi- 
ness. There were ample mess facilities, baths, tents and every- 
thing else that could be gotten or might be reasonably expected 
to make the soldiers comfortable and sanitary. Most of the 
Americans had been imbued with the idea that we must rush 
into the war and whip the Germans and have the thing over 
with, and they could not understand what they thought were 
the slow, methodical and business-like methods of the British. 
Many of our officers were particularly struck with the fact that 
here under the very guns of the enemy the British officers had a 
commodious club and music and all that sort of thing, and the 
best of wines and whiskies, and they went in and about as calmly 
and serenely as if they were in London or in Kalamazoo. Later 
on we had occasion to be convinced that the Britisher knew how 
to make a business of war and that he was an expert in running 
that business. Considering the number of men in the British 
Army and their wide separation on many fronts, the system which 
they had worked out and were carrying into execution of supply- 
ing food of the very best quality to their troops, and besides, 
equipment and materials for the comfort, safety and sanitation 
of their men, has always been a source of profound admiration 
to me. We soon learned to like the British officers. After you 
break the outside crust on an Englishman you find inside one of 
the finest fellows in the world. A few touches of Scotch and a 
few well-chosen words will usually break the crust between 
soldiers, and the British officer is a soldier through and through, 
as we learned afterwards. The men also afterwards in the expe- 
rience they had with British soldiers on the front and under fire 
gained for them a profound respect, not to say a real affection. 

AERIAL BOMBS 

The Boche must have learned that we arrived in Calais that 
day because he came over to pay us a visit that night and we were 
treated to a spectacle the like of which we had never seen or 
heard before — an aerial attack. As I said before, the country 
round about was literally filled with anti-aircraft guns, and when 
the Boche came over they opened up like a thousand Fourths of 



18 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

July. Many a man hugged the floor of his tent that night and 
thanked the British for that twelve inches below the surface of 
the ground. Some of us had the hardihood (also the curiosity) 
to peep out of the fly of the tent to see the flashes of the guns that 
lit up the sky and the searchlights playing upon the specks high 
above the earth. I realized then that the camp at St. Nazaire was 
really a rest camp. 

There are only two things that seemed to justify our being sent 
to Calais, one was that we got British rifles and gas masks, and 
the other was that we salvaged in one great pile most of the dainty 
things that delicate and loving hands across the sea had made 
for our comfort. 

I remember the system they had of supplying gas masks. The 
men were lined up before a high tent and as they passed in at the 
entrance a British Noncom stood there and called out the number 
of mask that each man was to wear by simply looking at their 
heads as fast as they passed. He was an expert in judging the 
size of heads. As we passed in he would call out 3 — 2 — 3 — 3 — 
4 — 2 and so on. When he came to me he called out "4." I remon- 
strated with him because I did not think that I had a big head, 
but he said it was not the size of the head but the length of the 
jaw, and I went on and got my number 4 and found that it was 
a perfect fit. 

The British not only ate less than the Americans but they wore 
less and carried less with them. Here again we were to profit by 
the British experiences. When our men left for overseas they 
had carried with them not only what they could carry in their 
packs and on their person but each squad had a barrack bag (by 
authority and under instruction, of course) in which the men 
carried shoe polish, brushes, extra sweaters, socks and underwear, 
letters and the like, and even in some case framed photographs 
of sweethearts. All of this stufif had to be thrown in a huge 
pile at Calais and the men stripped for action as it were ; and 
many a man went back to that pile to recover some article very 
dear to his heart, hoping against hope that he might be able to 
smuggle it through with him. There were enough shoe 
brushes in that ])ile to shine the shoes of the American Army. 

I must not fail to record also that it was at Calais that we first 
came in contact with the British custom of having "tea" at four- 
thirty in the afternoon. No matter what a British officer is doing 
he must have his "tea" at half-past four. To most of the Amer- 
ican officers it seemed an utter waste of time to have tea and toast 
in the middle of the afternoon, but the Britisher has his dinner 
late in the day, between seven and eight o'clock, and the tea was 
not an unpleasant way for him to bridge over the long afternoon. 
And then, too, the British officers have very efficient, highly- 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 19 

trained domestic servants, and the tea was always very tempting 
and very delicious. While we were in Rome, therefore, we did as 
the Romans, and had our "tea" at "harf-parst" four in the after- 
noon. 

While at Calais I went upon the hill near the camp several 
times and looked out toward the "Mother Country," as we Amer- 
icans are wont to call England, in the hope of being able to see 
her shores ; I had been told that the English Coast could be seen 
on a clear day, but always a mist hung upon the horizon and no 
land was in sight. 

QUESTREQUES 

We left Calais on the 6th day of June, equipped with British 
rifles and gas masks, and eating British rations, and destined for 
a British Training Area, where we were to be under the control 
and instruction of the British. In other words, so far as outward 
appearance went, all we needed to make us full-fledged Britishers 
was a little touch of the "lingo" and a few brass buttons on our 
clothes. But on the inside, I believe, there was almost without 
exception among the men an utter contempt for everything that 
was British. There seems to have been no reason for that feel- 
ing. Everything that we got from the British was good, the 
guns, the masks, the rations, the quarters, the service, everything 
was good. In fact, many of us marvelled at the wonderful 
machinery of the British Government that seemed to reach and 
supply in good time and good order every corner where there 
were British troops. Rather, I think, the dislike of the Ameri- 
cans for the British was a feeling of competition every strong 
man feels when he meets another strong man and measures 
strength with him, as it were. And this feeling of competition 
was aggravated, no doubt, by the inclination of the average 
Britisher to regard anything that Britain and Britishers do as 
a little better than can be done by anybody else in the world. 
The Americans were willing to compete with their British 
friends, but they did not relish the idea of losing their identity 
by disguising themselves with British equipment. There was a 
report going the rounds one time that British clothing was going 
to be issued to our men. I think this would have been more than 
our American boys could have stood, and I believe there would 
have been serious trouble, and I should not have blamed them 
very much. 

Anyway, as I said, we got aboard the train, and going south- 
ward in the same general direction from which we had come, we 
passed, in the same day, Boulogne, and at about 6:00 o'clock in 
the afternoon reached Samer, where we rested in tents for the 
night. Samer is said to have been constructed during the time 



20 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

that the Romans colonized Gaul. Appearances were certainly 
not against the town in its claim to antiquity. The next morning 
(Sunday) the 2d Battalion marched out in the direction of 
Questreques, a small town about three miles distant, which was to 
be our "home" for about one month. It was a beautiful June day, 
but very warm, and the men suffered a great deal from carrying 
their heavy packs and equipment. We came in sight of Ques- 
treques about eleven o'clock. Questreques, like all French towns, 
was beautiful from a distance — just a cluster of trees with red 
roofs and white buildings shining through them. There are no 
unsightly suburbs to a French town, like we have around our 
American towns, but the country surrounding a French town is 
neatly cultivated up to the edge of the town, and trees and hedges 
are neatly trimmed. We crossed a little stone bridge and came 
under the shade of the trees and into the town just before noon. 
"E" Company was the only company to billet in the town ; the 
other three companies going to places just beyond. 

BILLETING IN FRANCE 

We saw to the "billeting" of the men as soon as we could. 
To "billet" a man means to find him a place to live, usually in a 
stable or loft. This was the first time our men had ever been 
billeted. They had "camped" at Camp Lee, "bunked" on the 
boat, and "bivouacked" at Calais, and now they were to be 
"billeted." There was something about the billeting in the lofts 
on the hay and among the cattle that didn't set well on the 
average American, especially on most of our men who had come 
from refined homes and had been accustomed to the best all their 
lives. But you cannot down the spirit of the American soldier, 
as I always said, and I recall distinctly how they went into the 
barns making a noise like a cow, trying, I suppose, to make the 
best of a bad situation. 

I suppose I might as well record here something about billet- 
ing in France. In France every residence and every outbuilding 
is a legal billet, to be used by the government for the purpose of 
quartering troops, provided only that a sufficient space must be 
left for the owner of the premises and his family, and necessary 
animals. There is, of course, a difference between an officer's 
billet and an enlisted man's billet. An officer's billet is always 
in the residence of the owner, and must be a room with a bed, 
with bedclothing, furniture, etc., for which the owner is allowed 
one franc a day during the time the room is occupied. On the 
other hand, the billet of an enlisted man is nothing more than 
floor space upon which he may spread his blankets. Throughout 
the towns of France you will find the buildings marked with a 
sign on the front stating the number of the billet, and the number 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 21 

of officers and the number of men that the billet will accommo- 
date. Theoretically, at least, it is a very simple matter when you 
are going to stop and billet at a certain town with, say, two hun- 
dred and fifty men, to send your billeting detail ahead and pick 
out the billets you are going to occupy by reading the signs on the 
buildings, but practically it will not always work so smoothly. 
This was the case at Questreques, where some of the billets had 
no signs at all on them, and some of them were not fit for human 
beings to live in — certainly American human beings. It looked 
as though some of those billets may have been specially designed 
by the French to be used by the British or the Portuguese, both 
of whom the French despised very cordially. 

THE CHATEAU DE QUESTREQUES 

At any rate, I got all my men in billets and went with Lieu- 
tenant McQuillen, my billeting officer, to locate a place for myself 
and my officers. Lieutenant McQuillen had selected a room on 
the second floor of the Chateau de Questreques for me, but I 
observed a British officer moving out of the great room on the 
right wing of the chateau downstairs and I secured this room 
which accommodated most of my officers and myself. It had a 
considerable library (in French, of course), an old grand piano, 
a huge fireplace and one bedstead. I took the bed, and my officers 
used their cots. The Chateau de Questreques was by far the 
most imposing building in the town. It was a huge structure of 
Gothic style with a main central building, and wings on either 
end. It was built in the 17th century but was so well kept that 
it had the appearance of being really much more modern. The 
chateau sat in the midst of many fir trees, and many lanes and 
walk-ways made it a place of almost enchanting beauty. The 
garden back of the chateau was enclosed by an old wall, a part 
of which we were told was the rampart of an old fort built in the 
days of the Romans.. It certainly looked its age. 

After we got settled in our new quarters I went out to look 
over the town and get some connected idea of the location of my 
troops as I had placed the four platoons in different locations in 
order to find accommodations for them. An American's idea 
of a town is well-defined streets, even rows of buildings, trim little 
shops, and the like. Nothing like this is true of a town in North- 
ern France. A French town from a distance is beautiful; but at 
close range it is horrible. Unlike our American towns, a French 
town is merely a collection of farmers and farm buildings with 
their outbuildings and cow lots and all the rest. The Frenchman 
is very seclusive, he likes to make it difficult to reach his home 
and fireside, so that in order to get into the front door in a small 
French town you invariably have to go around through the back 



22 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

yard. The average Frenchman in the small towns will also 
invariably have the manure pile near his front door. It is hard 
to imderstand this custom of the French, because they are 
undoubtedly the most artistic people in the world. The farms 
and forests and cities of France are beautiful, but about their 
own front yards and their own habitations they are not artistic, 
they are quite the contrary. At least this is true of the small 
towns of France. 

I have often wondered why the French farmers always live 
m villages and not upon their farms. There are those who say 
that the practice dates from the days of the Robber Barons when 
farmers had to live together for protection ; others say that by 
this means less space is taken up for curtilage and that the prac- 
tice is maintained for economic reasons ; but no matter what the 
reasons. Frenchmen never live "in the country"' as we say in 
America, but in towns. I found Ouestreques, therefore, to be 
not really a town in our American sense, but merely a collection 
of French farmers and farmhouses. 

We were soon settled in Questreques. This was to be a 
period of instruction under the British, and we soon settled down 
to real dry hard work in the adjustment of classes and schools and 
the like. I had my Orderly room in the same wing of the chateau 
as my quarters and Corporal Fackiner and Sergeant Jones worked 
there faithfully to keep straight the classification of the different 
men in the different schools. There was a Gas School, a Bayonet 
School, a Grenade School, to which men were being sent, besides 
the regular daily schedule for the rest of the men who remained 
with the company. 

Captain Davidson (a Scotchman belonging to a Liverpool 
regiment) was the British officer assigned to look after the 
instruction of our battalion. He roomed in one of the rooms 
of the chateau. I remember that his "batman" (that's what they 
call an orderly) used to bring the Captain's boots down on the 
front steps of the chateau and clean them. Maybe that is why 
Madam Huguet, the mistress of the chateau hated the British 
so cordially. I remember one night shortly after we moved in 
I was talking to the Countess and M. Huguet (through an inter- 
preter, of course) and she expressed the most cordial dislike for 
the British. I am sure, also, that the Count felt the same way, but 
he was a man of the world, had served many years as a captain 
in the French Cavalry, and no doubt felt it best to keep his 
thoughts to himself. The British seemed to cultivate a cordial 
dislike for themselves wherever they went. But they did not 
seem to mind it, perhaps they rather expected it and liked it. At 
the same time the Countess expressed the profoundest admiration 
for "Les Americaines." She said there had always been the 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 23 

kindest feeling between France and America because both coun- 
tries were striving for the same ideals in freedom. I rather took 
up for the English because I knew they were a great people and 
were doing perhaps a great deal more in the war than the French 
thought or believed, and I tried on many occasions afterwards to 
convince her that the English were a great people, but she would 
not be convinced. 

My officers and I had our mess in a breakfast room in the last 
door on the right as you enter the main hall. It was a beautiful 
room, furnished in antique French furniture with (strange to 
say) English hunting scenes hung about the walls. Two large 
French windows opened onto the garden in the back. We made 
arrangements with the Countess for silverware, chinaware and 
table linen, and we were fixed up as fine as could be. The vase 
on our table was always full of roses, and once in a while we 
enjoyed strawberries from the garden. 

An interesting thing about the chateau was that there was a 
tunnel under it (so the Countess said) that had been some sort 
of subterranean passage under an ancient fort, and that the cellar 
was proof against aerial bombs. One night we had a bombing 
attack on Boulogne which, I confess, seemed to be very close to 
us as we could easily hear the German planes circling around to 
find a place to drop the bombs, and the next morning the Countess 
confessed that she had slept in the cellar all night. 

The chapel was just at the back end of the garden, but you 
entered it from the main road. I attended services whenever our 
Chaplain, Father Wallace, held services there. It was, of course, 
a Roman Catholic Church. This little church was built in the 
twelfth century. I remember one Sunday after mass Father 
Wallace took me back into the little sacristry to the right of the 
altar. It was the oldest part of the church, he said, and there 
were books and parchments and things of that sort as old as the 
church. I recall that in this little church a girl always took up the 
collection, and it is a custom in French churches whenever some- 
thing is dropped in the chalice for the one passing the chalice to 
say "Merci," which means in French : Thank you. 

But things were not always rosy at Questreques. We had our 
ups and downs and difficulties. I recall that I had great difficulty 
in keeping my platoon areas clean, especially one a^ea where I had 
my kitchen, as there were joint-tenants with the chickens, with a 
British transport, and with a sow and a litter of pigs. It was 
impossible to keep this place clean, so I arranged to move mv 
entire company into a beautiful sodded and shaded lot where T 
had all my men in "pup" tents and the ground was cleaned up 
so that there was not even a cigarette butt to be seen. I agreed 
with the Count to use an old kitchen building into which I put 



24 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

two field ranges and here the men's food was cooked and sent to 
them by platoons. 

So that things moved on in Questreques, sometimes smoothly, 
sometimes there were little kinks that had to be straightened out. 

A TRIP TO BOULOGNE 

Before leaving Questreques I must not fail to speak of my 
visit to Boulogne on the Fourth of July. Seldom have I enjoyed 
a more complete holiday than I did on the Fourth of July. The 
day was warm and clear. We started out, Lieutenant Goflf and I, in 
one of my mule carts, but that was too bumpy, so we took to tlie 
road on foot. A little later on we persuaded an automobile driver 
to turn back and take us to Boulogne. I remember we passed 
Captain Taylor riding in his ration cart, and we had lots of fun 
at his expense. It is funny how things of this sort will stick in 
a man's mind. We reached Boulogne in due time and did some 
shopping — I bought some little things to send home to the wife 
and little children. We had a big dinner in the Cafe, and in the 
afternoon went out to the Beach and lolled on the sand. Coming 
back from the beach we passed a place where an aerial bomb had 
dropped a few nights before on one of the docks sinking over 
ten feet through solid concrete and as much earth besides. On 
our way back, also, I remember, we stopped in a cafe and had a 
drink with real ice in it, the first ice I had seen since we left the 
States. Back in town we met Captain Davidson and some of 
his friends pretty well keyed up. I told him there was some 
excuse for me, that we were celebrating the day we whipped the 
British, but that there seemed to be no excuse or provocation for 
him. Captain D. was one of the finest fellows in the world but 
he would take on a little too much without the slightest excuse or 
provocation. He endeavored to explain the situation to me but 
was not at all coherent. We separated at length to meet again, 
however, when we happened to catch the same truck in which 
Captain D. and some of his friends were riding back Questreques 
way. We had to go by his friend's room in one of the chateaux 
and there with some Scotch and Irish whiskey we tried to smooth 
over the Fourth of July difficulty, and when we parted even the 
British said they were damned glad there was a Fourth of July. 
My little trip to Boulogne was a real holiday, and I enjoyed every 
minute of it — perhaps because I had not had a day's holiday in 
such a long time. 

Our stay at Questreques was, all told, not an unpleasant one. 
The weather was beautiful, sunny in the daytime and cool at 
night, in fact, so cool at night that I never slept with less than 
three blankets over me up to the time we left. The country 
round about was beautiful. I remember on our way to our 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 25 

parade and drill ground we had to pass across the high ground 
just above the town. From this height could be seen towards 
the west that beautiful row of hills that fringe the western coast 
of France, as blue in their outline as our own beautiful mountains 
of Virginia. It was a scene good to look upon as well for its 
own beauty as for the memories it brought home to me of hills 
still farther west. I remember also about Ouestreques the fields 
of growing colza known to our American farmers as rape, with 
its white and purple flowers, lading the crisp June air with a sweet 
aroma. And nothing was there to remind us of war except the 
air raids that I have spoken of, and except also that sometimes 
at night when everything was still and we were lying with our 
heads close to the wall we could hear the rumbling of the distant 
guns at the British front. 

WE LEAVE QUESTREQUES 

The next day after the Fourth of July we got orders to move. 
These orders always had a certain amount of mystery and uncer- 
tainty about them ; they seldom stated where we were going, only 
that we would entrain at a certain time and place, so that officers 
and men were usually much wrought up at the time of moving 
and rumors began to circulate as to our destination. On the 6th 
day of July, therefore, we moved out of Questreques and 
entrained at Samer, this time going in a southeasterly direction. 
We passed the same afternoon through Abbeyville, that city 
northwest of Amiens which had been under heavy fire of the 
Germans, and at about ten o'clock that night reached our detrain- 
ing point which was Bouquemaison. I shall never forget that 
night as we marched out of the town of Bouquemaison toward 
Beaudricourt, where we were to stop. We could hear the boom- 
ing of the big guns on the British Front near Arras and the flash 
of the guns would light up the horizon. This was a change from 
the peace and quietness of the town of Ouestreques and the men 
seemed by their silence and by their comments to realize that we 
were getting near serious business. We reached Beaudricourt 
well after midnight and men and officers alike were tired out 
from their train ride and the walk of 8 or 10 kilometers and not 
being able to locate billets for the men at that time of the night, 
I caused the company to pitch tents in an orchard and rest and 
wait for the morrow, which was Sunday. 

BEAUDRICOURT 

Beaudricourt was another of those country towns of Northern 
France, beautiful without, but unkempt and unsightly within. It 
was like the letter "Y" with the base pointing north, with houses, 
barns and stable lots lining the base and prongs. 



26 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

I remember when Sunday morning came and I could examine 
the billets intended for the men, I found them so dirty and so 
unsightly that I decided not to occupy them at all, and selected a 
permanent orchard lot where they pitched tents, two rows along 
either side and two at the back, making a quadrangle with open 
front. I afterwards placed my kitchen on the right side, between 
the platoon areas. We used the rest of that morning pulling up 
the stray weeds and cleaning up the lot. I speak of these things 
here because the appearance and arrangement of that orchard 
lot will always be a source of pleasure and gratification to me. 
I had an opening in the fence at the back end of the lot, beyond 
which in the edge of the wheat field I had constructed an immense 
latrine which was covered with wooden seats and protected from 
the weather by sheets of corrugated iron. I had two men who 
did nothing but look after the latrine and keep it clean and look 
after garbage and trash disposal. At my kitchen I had a grease 
trap into which all soapy and greasy water was thrown to keep 
it from the ground ; I had a case made for the meat ; I had an 
oven built for baking, as baking could not be done on the British 
rolling kitchen which we had. I had a system of police work and 
inspection which insured keeping the entire place spotless at all 
times. In fact, I was told by the Division Sanitary Inspector that 
it was the best company area in the division. 

My own billet was not as imposing as the one at Questreques, 
but quite as comfortable, if not more so. In fact, all my officers 
and I (five of us all told) occupied two large rooms in a typical 
small town house in Northern France. The house and barns and 
stables formed a quadrangle with a courtyard in the center. 
The house, the stable, the cow-sheds and chicken houses all faced 
the courtyard, which formed a sink pit full of stable manure. As 
you entered the house from the street you passed between the 
chicken house and the house, flanked the manure pile for a dis- 
tance of twenty feet, turned sharply to the left and entered a 
hall. 

The French take their animals into their homes and make 
them members of the family. I was afterwards billeted in a cer- 
tain home in France where it was reported to me that there was 
a door between the kitchen and the cow-shed and that the woman 
of the house brought the cow into the kitchen to milk her. But 
of this I do not speak with certainty because I did not go back 
into the kitchen to see. Our stay in the billet at Beaudricourt 
was very pleasant. Lieutenant Goflf and I slept in one of the 
beds. A French bed is a real pleasure and a real delight to a 
soldier. They are difficult to get into, but they are more difficult 
to get out of. It is never too hot for feather beds in France. 
Lieutenant Bixler and Lieutenant Sergeant slept on their cots, and 
Lieutenants Martin and McQuillen slept in the other room. 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 27 

There was about the house an old woman (a widow) and her 
married daughter with two sons and a Httle girl. These boys 
were splendid, manly fellows of six and seven years and the 
little girl was about four. Their father was a prisoner in Ger- 
many where he had been for more than a year. These little chil- 
dren had typical manners of well-raised French children. They 
never spoke unless they were spoken to, always said, "Yes, Sir" 
and "No, Sir," in their own tongue, of course, and when you met 
the boys on the street they would take off their hats to you. 
They were John and Jacques and Helen, and they were enough to 
make a father's heart glad and proud when he shall be released 
from his prison camp in Germany. 

I do not recall the old lady's name, but I recall her face and 
her goodness of heart. She helped us to augment for our mess 
the ration issued by the government. There were eggs and milk 
and chickens (always in exchange for many, many francs, of 
course). Vegetables were very scarce — in fact, they have always 
seemed scarce in France, strange to say. Not only were they 
scarce, but those we could get were poor in quality and flavor. 
The more I have seen of French vegetables and fruits and what 
not, the more have I become convinced that whatever grows in 
Virginia draws more sweetness from the sunshine than anywhere 
else in the world. 

The training at Beaudricourt was only slightly different from 
the training at Questreques ; there was the bayonet training, the 
throwing of live grenades, rifle practice, the training of automatic 
riflemen, and the drills. Perhaps the only difference was that we 
were supposed to take over and hold as a matter of practice a 
certain third line of defense back of the Arras front called the 
G. H. Q. line, but we really did not do much with this while we 
were at Beaudricourt. 

I recall also while at Beaudricourt, the Division competition 
on the great field near Bouquemaison. It was a beautiful day and 
the marching troops and playing bands presented a spectacle of 
beauty and splendor the like of which my eyes have seldom rested 
upon. I was one of the judges in the bayonet drill contest. That, 
I think, was on the 16th of July. 

My best impression of Beaudricourt will always be of a quiet, 
dirty little French country town, with old stone buildings and 
narrow, crooked streets, and hedges and cow lots ; of the quiet 
and happy little home in which we lived, facing upon the stable 
courtyard ; of routine days of training men to fight, and of polic- 
ing areas to meet and satisfy the eye of unexpected visitors from 
higher up; and, finally, I think all men were impressed with the 
constant rumbling of the big guns at the British front and the 
flashes at night and the occasional whir-whir of the German aero- 
plane overhead. So that considering all things, especially our 



28 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

destination, Beaudricourt held many charms that we were not 
wilHng to give up for others that we knew not of, although sol- 
diers are always anxious and curious to see what will next befall 
them. 

WITH THE BRITISH AT BAVINCOURT 

We left Beaudricourt at nine o'clock in the forenoon of July 
22d, marching with light packs, the heavy roll being carried on 
trucks. At half-past one we reached our destination, Bavincourt. 
By referring to the map you will see that Bavincourt is about 
one kilometer (^ of a mile) to the left of the great Doulens- 
Arras road, and about fifteen kilometers from the British front — 
not within range of the guns, but within the area of active opera- 
tion of the Boche aeroplanes. The Second Battalion was here and 
the First and Third Battalions and regimental headquarters at 
Saulty, about four kilometers back of us. At Bavincourt we 
came in contact again with the British, because they had a number 
of engineer troops here and there was also a British Officers' 
club which seemed to be a popular Mecca for that ilk in that part 
of France. We were here still under the instruction of the 
British, that is, we were to carry out the third stage of the British 
training idea by getting actual experience with the British at the 
front. We will see presently how this was done. 

Merely as a matter of preserving it in my memory I desire 
to record something of the nature of the town and the situation 
and location of my troops and officers. Bavincourt was a larger 
town than Beaudricourt, and Bavincourt, too, was just behind the 
British lines and had been used apparently for three or four years 
for the quartering of fighting troops and therefore had barracks, 
horse lines, dugouts and such inseparable concomitants of war, 
which robbed the town of that sense of country quietness we 
found in the other town in which we had lived. And there were 
gun shops to which disabled artillery came to be repaired, and 
machine shops for work of all kinds. And besides when the big 
Doulens-Arras road was under fire, the main line of traffic to 
and from the front was through Bavincourt. It was a busy, busy 
place. My men had a fairly comfortable situation in six low 
frame buildings about twenty feet wide and about fifty feet long 
which had been erected by the British three or four years before. 
There were deep trenches along the sides of these buildings into 
which it was assumed that men would jump in case of an air 
attack, to find protection against the lateral bursts of air bombs. 
Within fifty feet of these buildings there was also an immense 
dugout, perhaps forty feet deep, hewn out of the chalk that 
underlies the soil of Northern France, and said to be large enough 
to accommodate an entire battalion of one thousand men, although 
I would not vouch for this because I never went down into it. 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 29 

I never happened to be in just that neighborhood when an air 
raid was on. This dugout was used on many occasions by the 
British during night disturbances from above, and on two or 
three occasions, I am informed, most of my company spent 
the night there. It was not to the discredit of the British that 
they used this dugout so frequently. Most, if not all, of the 
Britishers here had had bitter experiences with bombs and they 
had grown cautious, but the Americans who had not learned, took 
a chance and trusted to luck. 

The officers were quartered in the up side of the town in 
little long buildings, some in the shape of nisson huts and others 
with quaint little low mansard roofs. Ours was one of the latter 
kind. It had no furniture or beds. We secured from the British 
Town Major some cots with wooden frames and canvas bottoms 
and on these, with the assistance of our bedding-rolls, we made 
fairly comfortable beds. We secured from him also some tables 
and benches for our mess. It was here again that the American 
Officers were struck with the genius of the British organization 
in its consideration for the natural needs and wants of men even 
in the military service. There seems to be an impression in cer- 
tain American quarters that all you have to do to make a soldier 
is to give a man a rifle and some rations and a couple of blankets 
and send him out to fight. But the British Government knows, 
and its system carries that knowledge unfalteringly into practice, 
that a soldier is still a human being, that he needs an occasional 
bath, that he needs amusement once in a while, that wherever 
possible (and it is almost always possible to some extent) he 
should have certain of the comforts of home, such as a table and 
a bench at meal time, and many other things that make him a 
real human being first of all and then a soldier. 

Hard by the officers' huts was the British Club for officers. 
Of course, all American officers were welcome. It was a magnifi- 
cent place — a huge marquisate tent, with carpeted space, and 
tables for drinks, and meals (and cards) and a place for the 
orchestra. The grounds outside were laid off in walks covered 
with crushed rocks. Flags and bunting hung over the archway, 
for what reason I do not know. I was told that Sir Douglas Haig 
and the King were guests at this club during the Somme drive 
in 1916. 

NIGHT BOMBING ATTACKS 

I slept just inside the door of my hut, which was not more 
than fifty yards from the entrance to the club. The American 
gasoline engine that made light for the club gave me many a 
moment of reflection as I lay on my cot at night. Besides, when 
the engine was working I knew there were no Boche planes prowl- 
ing around to do us harm, because when the Boche came the 



30 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

British stopped the engine. But when the engine stopped I knew 
the Boche were coming. It is no pleasant experience to lie on 
your back at night with nothing over you except a few blankets 
and a thin roof and listen to the whir-whir of the Boche planes 
circling above you and you not knowing just where he intends to 
drop his deadly load, and he neither, for that matter. And there 
is no difficulty in distinguishing a Boche plane from an Allied ; 
its engines are so constructed that the whir-whir of the propellers 
sounds like the purring of a cat. It is easy enough to convince 
yourself that there is no reason why the Boche should drop a 
bomb on you, because you know you are not a railroad, or an 
ammunition dump or a cross-roads, or anything of that sort; 
but if you are in the neighborhood of anything of that nature 
you are sure that the Boche is looking for it, but you can never 
seem to get up confidence in his marksmanship. Many a night at 
Bavincourt I lay on my back awake listening to the infernal 
machine, purring like a huge cat above us trying to locate the 
ammunition dump near by, or the Doulens-Arras Road, or the 
railroad that passed around us. When the Boche came over of 
course the British anti-aircraft guns kept him busy dodging for 
his life. Perhaps the biggest raid near us was one made about 
eleven o'clock in the forenoon. They were after the ammunition 
dump near by, I was told. I counted seven Boche planes, each 
plane dropping its five bombs one after the other in rapid suc- 
cession. 

Just outside the officers' huts there had been constructed a 
trench to go into in case of air attacks. I never went into it and 
I do not think that any of our officers did. We just had con- 
fidence in our luck and trusted to it rather than overcome the 
natural disinclination to going out into the cool night air — such 
fools we mortals be. 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 31 



CHAPTER III 



IN THE TRENCHES WITH THE BRITISH 

The first week of our stay at Bavincourt we devoted to the usual 
training of the men. After that we started the third phase of 
the British plan of training by giving certain elements of the 
command, and finally the command itself, actual experience at 
the fighting front as follows : first, by sending up a detachment 
of officers and non-commissioned officers for a period of three 
days ; second, by sending up the companies for a like period, and 
finally, third, by sending the battalions as a whole for a like 
period. 

I am glad now that I went up all three times, although there 
was no hankering after the second and third trips. 

This was indeed serious business, and war began to take on 
an aspect it had never worn before. It is very pleasant to think 
about now as I sit in my comfortable billet with an open fire- 
place and all that, but it was dififerent then. Those were times 
and events that touched down into the bottoms of men's hearts, 
and made them think of a mother's sorrow or a widow's needs, 
or unhappy little children. Indeed these were my own thoughts 
as I was detailed to command the First Detachment of officers 
and non-commissioned officers to go to the front. There was no 
fear as far as I could see, only a suppressed excitement and a 
sense of sorrow for those who did not know and could not help. 
I tied my letters up in a bunch and entrusted their disposition 
in case of ill luck to one of my lieutenants ; I gave directions for 
the disposition of certain articles of worldly wealth ; and made 
disposition of the company fund of which I was custodian. A 
picture of my wife and little children I put in the upper left hand 
pocket of my blouse. It went with me through all the battles of 
the war, and now remains hardly more than a piece of crumpled 
paper, a treasured souvenir of the great war. 

At any rate, we got our party together. 

Each officer and man took his rifle or pistol, and in his pack 
a blanket, a slicker, toilet articles and three days' rations, which 
made quite a load. 

We marched to Saulty in a pouring rain and pulled out in 
busses in the forenoon of 24th of July, passed out to the great 
Doulons-Arras road and thence in a northeasterly direction. We 
passed through Beaumetz about three o'clock in the afternoon. 
There was not a living soul in sight. A stray cat was hunting a 



32 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

place to hide. It crossed the road ahead of us but it was not a 
black cat. Beaumetz was under shell fire at some time each day, 
because it was the point of departure from the big Doulons-Arras 
road to the area back of the British front south of Arras. From 
Beaumetz our road led through Blairville, thence by "Shrapnel 
Corner" (naturally so named because of the shrapnel that burst 
there) and thence into the town of Ransart. It was not thought 
safe for our trucks to enter Ransart so they stopped in a little 
ravine just before the entrance to the town, where we were to 
meet at five o'clock the guides from the Guards' Division of the 
British Army who were to take us to the sector held by them. 
But we reached this point an hour too soon and I had the officers 
and men get out of the trucks and take shelter under an embank- 
ment near the road until the guides arrived. Every man was, of 
course, on the qui rive, as heavy German shells might be expected 
to fall in Ransart any moment as the town was under fire every 
day. Suddenly there was a most terrific explosion behind us and 
every one hugged the earth for a moment or two as is customary 
and proper in such circumstances, and expected to look up and 
see the smoke and debris of an exploding shell, but great was our 
surprise (and I might add delight, as well) to look back and see 
that it was the discharge of a great British howitzer less than a 
hundred yards back of us and so close to the road that one might 
almost have touched it with his hand as he passed, so successfully 
camouflaged was it. Of course we went back to see the big 
fellow work, sending iron rations to Jerry, as the saying goes. 
One of the gunners showed me to the "shelter" of the officer in 
charge of the gun. I found him "at tea," and he insisted on my 
having tea with him. After "tea" he took me down and showed 
me the big gun and the different kinds of shells they were send- 
ing over and asked me if I would like to fire the gun. I could not 
decline in the presence of my officers and men. They loaded 
her up with a great bundle of high explosives, and what not, and 
a great nine point two shell, and I took hold of the trigger, a rope 
with iron hand holds, and swung my whole weight against her. 
She went off and I trust carried terror to the hearts of the enemy. 
The explosion at that proximity is beyond description. If you 
can imagine the most violent concussion possible, and then multi- 
ply the sound by ten thousand it will be something like the con- 
cussion of that gun. 

In due time our guides met us. Lieutenant Colonel Thorne, 
the commanding officer of one of the battalions of the Grenadier 
Guards came in person and brought sufficient guides so that our 
detachment could be broken up into small parties to minimize 
losses from enemy artillery. These guides and parties went their 
several ways and Colonel Thorne and I struck out for his bat- 
talion headquarters at the front, passing through the town of 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 33 

Ransart. There was no living creature in the town, of course, 
except the silent soldiers passing to and fro. Many of the build- 
ings were mere piles of rock, others with only walls standing, and 
a few apparently untouched. I noticed that the church was rid- 
dled with holes and the gravestones had been tumbled down. 
It was not a town that had been torn down "with not a stone 
upon another," but it was the first destroyed town I had seen and 
its desolation impressed me more perhaps than may have the mere 
piles of rock I saw afterwards around Verdun or near the Meuse. 

We followed the road out of the town and up the hill to the 
south, taking the more dangerous route, the Colonel said, in order 
to get a view of the German lines. On the plain above he pointed 
out to me the Boche lines on the ridge beyond. It was a desolate 
barren country, cleared almost as far as the eye could see toward 
the front. He said we would be under direct observation of the 
enemy for the distance of perhaps a kilometer, but that the Boche 
would not waste his artillery on such a small target as two men. 
Yet, I confess, I was not comfortable as I passed along that road, 
and it seemed to me that the whole German army had its eyes on 
us. We passed along, the Colonel talking all the while, for he 
was a great talker and an interesting one, and there was no mis- 
hap, the stray shells falling far enough away from us to do us 
no harm. We passed by the famous Sugar Mill site (of historic 
memory in this regiment), across a little ravine and at last 
reached the battalion headquarters on a slight ridge beyond the 
ravine. The headquarters were located in an oblong frame shack 
built under the protection of a rise in the ground and covered 
with corrugated iron. This shack was also used for the mess. 
There was also a huge dugout about fifty yards distant which had 
been built by the Boche before the push in the spring of 1917, 
which was used for sleeping quarters, signalmen and such like. 

The Colonel and I, of course, reached the headquarters before 
the detachments that had waited for the cover of twilight, and we 
sat down and went over the maps together showing the sector 
and the lines held by the Guards Division, Colonel Thome's Bat- 
talion then holding the forward zone. The forward zone was 
divided into (1) front or outpost line, consisting of two trenches 
about four hundred yards apart, (2) support, or red line, consist- 
ing of two parallel trenches about two hundred yards apart, and 
about fifteen hundred yards behind the outpost line, and (3) the 
reserve position, located at the Sugar Mill site, about four hun- 
dred yards back of the support line. The support line was the 
main line of resistance in the forward zone, to which line the 
reserve might come up or the outpost line might fall back. The 
outpost line was about four hundred yards from the Boche line. 
His dispositions were : one company in the outpost line, two com- 
panies in the support line and one company in reserve at the 



34 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

Sugar Mill site. His idea was that my four detachments, repre- 
senting the four companies of my battalion, should be disposed : 
one detachment with each of his four companies. 

After the fall of darkness, therefore, when my detachments 
came up I sent Captain Taylor with the "G" Company Detach- 
ment to the outpost line; Captain Howell with *'H" Company to 
the left sector of the support line ; Lieutenant Martin with "E" 
Company to the right sector of the support line, and Lieutenant 
Shaner with "F" Company to the reserve position at the Sugar 
Mill. 

The details having gone out we then sat down to a very 
delightful dinner which was served in courses with wines and 
whiskies and what not. I marvelled again at the complacency of 
the British in such circumstances as these, for I confess that I 
was somewhat wrought up with the belching of the big guns 
that sat on the ridge back of us and the singing of the missiles 
of death as they passed over us, and the bursting of the shells. 
About ten o'clock that night the Colonel started out on his tour 
of inspection and I, of course, went with him. We passed out 
of the shelter, over the little ridge that separated us from the 
sunken road and thence up the bank to the support line. We 
traversed it throughout. Colonel Thorne stopped frequently to 
inspect the work that was going on — as improvements were con- 
stantly under way — laying duck-boards, digging additional little 
by-trenches for additional fields of flank fire and what not, and I 
was struck with the familiarity he possessed of every detail of the 
work and its progress. Everything was systematized, even the 
number of duck-boards a man must lay in an hour or the number 
of feet of earth he should dig. I was impressed also with the won- 
erful discipline and efficiency of the men. I remember I spoke 
to him about this and he stopped there upon the parapet of the 
trench in the darkness and discussed with me at some length the 
means of getting discipline and efficiency out of men. It was 
a wonderful talk under wonderful circumstances and I shall never 
forget it. 

After we had gone over the whole of the support line, we 
started out towards the front line. It was then about twelve 
o'clock at night. We passed the whole distance of about fifteen 
hundred yards overland, and I remember how I felt that at any 
moment one of the shells would strike us or that we would 
sooner or later get into the wake of one of the Boche machine 
guns that were constantly rattling across the line. I remember 
when we first started out it was dark, but before we reached the 
front line the moon came up like a great ball of unwelcome light. 
In fact, it was so light that I am confident the Boche saw the 
light reflecting on my great oiled raincoat, because he turned one 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 35 

of his guns on us and the shots fell so fast about our feet that 
we had to take shelter for a time in a shell hole near by. 

At length we passed on and reached the front line trench and 
walked along the paradose along practically the 2,000 yards of 
the sector's width. There were nine posts in this line. As the 
Colonel approached each post he was challenged by the men 
on guard, and I can hear them now as they called out in a low but 
firm tone, "Who are you?" and the Colonel as he invariably 
answered in his British accent, "Commanding Officer." Any 
other person would have answered with the password (which was 
"VONI"), and he should have done so, too, but he knew that 
every man in the command knew his voice so well that there 
would be no mistake. 

I had many a thrill that night. The British called it a quiet 
sector but I think it had outgrown that name. The big guns were 
booming, and the machine guns were popping off, and occasion- 
ally the Hun would send over one of those infernal nine-inch 
monsters called Minenwerfers that would dig a hole in the ground 
thirty feet across and with a bang and crash that seemed all but 
to rend the heavens in twain. And then the Boche would send up 
Caterpillar rockets and Very lights to expose the patrols that 
were going over from the British side, so that the ground was 
lit at times as if it were broad daylight. At one place, I remem- 
ber I jumped the trench and crossed the parapet and went a little 
way into No-Man's Land just to get the thrill of it. 

EFFICIENCY OF THE BRITISH 

We got back to battalion headquarters after three o'clock in 
the morning and turned into the dugout for a much needed sleep. 
On the morrow, about nine o'clock, we started out again, this time 
I think more on a tour of instruction than inspection, although 
the Colonel never failed to inspect what he observed. I remember 
he took me to the right flank of the support and showed me the 
"T" trenches that had been dug off from the line which, he 
explained, were to be used for flanking fire if the enemy should 
attempt to penetrate down the valley from Ayette around his 
right flank, and showed me the wire defenses, erected perpendic- 
ular to the line of supports, to prevent the Boche from encircling 
and cutting off the rear, which was a famous German trick. He 
showed me the sink pits that were constructed to drain the water 
from the trenches. He showed me the machine gun emplace- 
ments to the flanks covering every avenue of approach with a 
definite sector of fire. I recall that there were some old aeroplane 
hangars about four hundred yards in front of the right flank of 
the support line, which the Colonel had decided to tear down for 
fear that if the Boche should come over he could use them as 



36 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

cover, and he had details working there. We went out to inspect 
the work. While we were there the Boche put over some shells 
less than a hundred feet from the men who were at work, but 
they worked on without so much as even looking up. Again I 
was struck with the wonderful discipline and courage of the 
British soldier — at least those of the Guards Division. From this 
point we went again to the Front Line Trenches, taking cover in 
the trenches only when within about five hundred yards of the 
front. We passed through the trenches from end to end of the 
sector, pausing now and then to look over the top and across to 
see if by any chance we could see the Boche. At many points 
the front line trench was so narrow that I had to lift one foot 
above the other knee to walk along it. I asked the Colonel how 
an injured man could be taken out of such a place in the daytime. 
He replied that it could not be done, that the wounded man would 
either have to be taken over the top in the daytime or wait for 
darkness. We passed, then, back into a forward observation post 
about five hundred yards from the front line and spent some time 
here looking through the glasses at Moyenville on a hill beyond 
the Boche lines. They seemed to be moving there much the same 
as the British were moving back of their lines and with the same 
calmness. There was a boy digging potatoes, a man driving a 
cart and men passing to and fro. I remember as we came back 
we passed a forward artillery observation post and the officer 
in charge said that he had seen the same thing and the Colonel 
asked him why he had not wired back to put the artillery on them 
and he replied with a broad "a" on the blast: "Sir, they would 
blast me if I asked for the 'heavies' on a target like that." It was 
too small a target for the big guns, which were the only ones that 
could reach it. 

MY FIRST CASUALTY 

We returned to battalion headquarters, after passing through 
the little town of Boiry St. Martin just to the left, reaching there, 
about half-past twelve, and I sat down inside the shelter to rest 
while the Colonel remained outside to talk to some men who had 
come up. In a few minutes the Colonel came to the opening and 
said : "Captain, I fear your doctor has been killed." I said, "Do 
you fear it, or is it a fact?" He said, "It is a fact." Doctor 
Saunders was the Medical Officer who had gone up with my 
detachment. He was killed near the Sugar Mill site while walk- 
ing the rounds with Dr. Anderson, the British Medical Officer. 
A shell had burst near him and he had not dropped quick enough 
so that a piece of it struck him on the head, knocking his brains 
out, and Dr. Anderson was so close to him that the blood and 
brains were scattered on his coat sleeves. I made arrangements to 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 37 

have Dr. Saunders buried the next day in the British MiHtary 
Cemetery at Blairville, about four miles back of the line. 

But the news of a death had no effect on any one there. They 
were engaged in the business of death and they expected it and 
took it as a matter of course. In fact, we sat down to lunch as 
if nothing had happened. I remember the Brigadier (as they 
call the Brigade Commander), Sir Victor Mackenzie, was up for 
lunch, and young Lord Herndon, the Adjutant, was there, and 
some others, and we ate the food and drank the wine with relish. 
We talked about "the auld Hund," and about the Americans com- 
ing into the war, and many other things. The British were espe- 
cially bitter against the Boche, but they never forsook their cock- 
sure attitude as to what the outcome would be. "The auld Hun 
is jolly well fed up," as Sir Victor expressed it, "he cawnt last 
long." They were especially cheered and heartened, though, by 
the entrance of America into the war and with all her great 
resources in men and materials, and the British certainly overdid 
themselves in trying to show their appreciation. It may be truly 
said that America and Americans had gotten beneath the skin 
of the British (a thing theretofore thought impossible) and they 
found the Britisher to possess the qualities of a real human 
friendship. America and England will be friends for many 
generations. These were the impressions I got during that lunch. 

That afternoon was spent in getting a little needed rest, after 
which I visited my support companies with my Orderly, it being 
a rule that an officer must not go about alone. 

I was so much impressed with all the things that Colonel 
Thorne had told me about the construction and organization of 
trenches, about the principles of defensive warfare, and other 
matter of military importance, that I was determined to give all 
my officers the benefit of his instruction, and for that purpose I 
had Lord Herndon notify my officers to meet at battalion head- 
quarters that night for a conference at eight o'clock, I remem- 
ber that Captain Taylor was the last to arrive with his officers. 
He broke into the shack and said in some excitement, "Who sent 
for me?" I told him that I had sent for him for a conference with 
Colonel Thorne. He said : "By God, I've been playing hide and 
seek with them damned Boche shells all the way from the front 
line down here." We sympathized with him because the night 
was very dark and the Boche was putting over a few, some of 
them Minenwerfers. But we could not let danger interfere with 
instruction, because we were there for instruction. 

It was a great privilege to listen to a soldier like Colonel 
Thorne, who had been in the war four years and had become 
master of the best principles and thoughts of the British Army, 
and we sat there almost with open mouths trying to catch his 
every word. This I confess was not easy because during the 



38 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

entire time the British were putting over a "big shoot" as they 
called it, and the big guns on the ridge back of us (toward which 
the shack faced) were booming and barking with almost the rapid- 
ity of a machine gun. I did not envy my officers their trip as they 
went back to their several posts that night. 

THE GUARDS DIVISION 

That night the Grenadier Guards were relieved by the Cold- 
stream Guards, the former having completed its six days' tour 
in the forward zone. There was great rivalry (friendly, of 
course) between these Guards. One of the organizations (I 
cannot recall which one it was) laid great store by its ancient 
history, having been organized, I think some one said, in the time 
of King Solomon. They called the Grenadier Guards the infants 
because they were not organized until the time of Charles II. 
But notwithstanding their extremely modern origin they had a 
record to be proud of, for they had fought at Blenheim, in the 
Seven Years' War, and during the American Revolution at White 
Plains, Germantown, Guilford Court House and Yorktown. 
They took part in the French Revolution and in the Napoleonic 
Wars at Quatra Bras and Waterloo. They saw service in the 
Crimean, the Egyptian and Soudan Campaigns and the Boer War, 
and, of course, in the great world war. 

The discipline and efficiency of the Guards were wonderful. 
A soldier only answers "Sir" when spoken to by an officer, no 
matter what is said to him, unless in time of war other words are 
necessary for military efficiency, and then he uses as few words 
as possible. Colonel Thorne said that in time of peace, for 
example, if a guard were asked what he thought of a parade he 
would answer only "Sir," and denote by his tone and expression 
whether, in his opinion, the parade was good or bad. And they 
were manly, calm men, every one five feet eleven or over and 
all with mustaches. It was very fortunate for our men — and our 
officers — that they should have been under the instruction of the 
best organizations in the British Army. 

The Grenadier Guards having been relieved, I spent the next 
morning inspecting my own detachments, and at about two 
o'clock, going in advance of them, I left, with three of my officers, 
to attend the funeral of Dr. Saunders in Blairville (which was 
on our way out) and left instructions for my detachments to meet 
me at Blairville at six o'clock, as they were to come out of the 
line that afternoon. 

I remember as we came into the town of Blairville we met the 
trucks taking up detachments from the First Battalion to the line. 
They had heard about Dr. Saunders' death and some other little 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 39 

casualties we had had, and I could see that they were experiencing 
some anxiety on account of the trip. Dr. Saunders was well 
known and well liked, and he was the first casualty suffered by 
the regiment in the war. 

THE BURIAL OF DR. SAUNDERS 

A little further on I came on to Colonel Thorne who was all 
shaved and bathed and dressed up to attend the funeral, and he 
had with him the British Chaplain who was to conduct the serv- 
ices. The body was in a little morgue at the cemetery, wrapped 
in a Union Jack. The Colonel explained that he could not secure 
an American flag, but that he would remove the Union Jack if I 
objected to it. I told him there could be no objection to the 
British flag under the circumstances. The ceremony at the grave 
was beautiful. The Colonel had brought a funeral escort from 
the Grenadier Guards and they stood at present arms as the 
coffinless body was being lowered by two cords into the grave. 
After the service was read, Colonel Thorne stood for a minute 
over the open grave saluting the dead. He said that was a custom 
in the British Army — to give a salute of farewell to a dead 
comrade. It was a beautiful and impressive ceremony, and one 
which will not cease to impress me as long as I live. 

After the ceremony was over Colonel Thorne insisted that we 
go back to Brigade Headquarters and have "tea" with them, but 
I assured him that we could not do that because I had to meet 
my detachments. The Cure then took from his pocket some little 
cookies he had brought as a special delicacy for the "tea" and 
insisted that we eat them. The British were always doing some- 
thing to make us feel how deep in their hearts they wanted to 
serve us. Presently my detachments came up and we bade the 
Colonel and Cure good-bye and started on our way back to Bavin- 
court. 

We had had a wonderful trip. We had seen trench warfare in 
its purity, we had been with the best soldiers in the British Army, 
we had been under the strain of the danger of shells for nigh 
unto three days, and there was plenty to talk about and there was 
plenty of talk because the relief had loosened our tongues. There 
was many a story of a narrow escape told on that trip back. We 
passed through Beaumetz, thence down the great Doulens Road 
and reached Bavincourt about eight o'clock on the night of July 
25th. 

The purpose of the trip was, of course, twofold : to enable 
us to learn the ways of trench fighting as carried on by the best 
troops of the British Army, and to become accustomed to shell 
fire. Both of these purposes were admirably served. I know for 
my own part that all the vague things we had learned in books 



40 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

and lectures about trench warfare had become crystaHzed into 
real knowledge in those three days and nights we spent at the 
front, and certainly we had learned more or less the habits of 
shells and things of that sort and we felt like real veterans of 
the war. 

But it was pleasant to get back to peaceful Bavincourt. It 
seemed good to get back to a place where men could walk about 
without listening for and dodging shells and machine guns, and 
where peace was in the air and men were not trying to kill each 
other. Ah ! the sunshine and the song of birds, and the atmosphere 
of peace and good will towards men — it was beautiful. I some- 
times think that few of us have ever fully appreciated the beauty 
and the blessing of peace, but I did after I came out of the front 
with its mistrust, man of man, its uncertainty of life and its desire 
for death, and its blood and sufifering and all that. 

I remember a few days after we came back from the front 
we went on a trip to the rifle range at Bouquemaison, about 20 
kilometers distant, where we spent three days. We slept in the 
open air in our little pup tents. Lieutenant Martin and I slept 
in the same tent. It was beautiful warm sunshiny weather, and 
it was a picnic to me. We had much time to talk over the things 
that had gone and reflect upon and discuss the things that were 
to come — but nothing now seemed half so difficult or dangerous 
as it really was. It was like telling a ghost story during the day- 
light. We got back from this little trip much as a man gets back 
from a vacation, little inclined to take up the regular work again, 
and ill prepared indeed for the news that we were to go back 
to the front again. 

HOLDING A FRONT LINE TRENCH 

I had gone to the front the last time as senior officer in com- 
mand of the small detachments of officers and non-commissioned 
officers from each of the companies of the battalion, and the 
officers and men had been merely associated with the British at 
the front to be instructed by them ; but this time I was to take 
up the whole of "E" Company and actually take over a part of 
the front and hold it against whatever might befall just as the 
British were doing. 

I made little preparations as before — my letters, my company 
fund and other personal things provided for in case of bad luck — 
I made my will, so to speak. At five o'clock in the afternoon 
of August 3d we got aboard the little dinky flat cars down by the 
rifle range below Bavincourt, and pulled out along the sinuous 
route. We reached "Shrapnel Corner" before seven o'clock and 
then we got oflf and the British served all of us — officers and 
men — hot tea and cookies. It was a very delightful treat because 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 41 

the ride in the open had made us hungry. At the fall of dusk we 
started out toward the front, one guide to each half-platoon, 
passing through Ransart and taking the same course we had gone 
over on our last trip. 

It had been determined beforehand that my company should 
take over and hold a part of the very front line position held by 
the Scots' Guards that were in the line, two of my platoons in the 
front trench and two platoons in the support trench of the front 
line, and for this purpose guides had been directed to meet my 
men at the sunken road beyond battalion headquarters to show 
them their positions. I went with the two platoons that went to 
the front line, and left Lieuenant Tydings in command of the 
two platoons that remained in the support line. 

I shall never forget that trip from the sunken road to the 
front line — a distance of about 1,500 yards. It was a dark night 
and the shells were falling here and there and Jerry was lighting 
the sky with his rockets and Very lights. It would have been 
beautiful if it had not been horrible. 

The guides took my men to the posts that the Scots' Guards 
had selected for them, that is the posts embracing a center seg- 
ment of the front line, and covering a front of about 600 yards — 
five posts in the front trench and five posts in the support trench 
of the front line. The headquarters of the company of Scots' 
Guards that were occupying the sector with us was in a dugout 
in the support trench. There I met Captain Dundas of the Scots' 
Guards, and also met Captain Thompson, the American Captain 
whom I relieved. 

I remember after Captain Thompson left. Captain Dundas 
and I talked for a long time about the situation and condition of 
the trenches we were in, the posts and their reliefs and things of 
that sort. Captain Dundas was a typical young Scotch officer, 
well educated and a good talker. I think he was the most aristo- 
cratic person I ever came in contact with — if that conveys any 
meaning — he was full of life and full of song, and liked his toddy 
— of which, by the way, he had plenty on hand — but he never 
took any to excess. 

It was a comfortable little dugout — comfortable in the sense 
that it protected us from the shells that never ceased to fall in 
that area, but otherwise a dreary damp hole. There was the serv- 
ant with his cooking apparatus at the foot of the stairs, so that 
the smoke — what there was of it, as they had to use charcoal in 
the front line — could get out. Inside there was one single 
chicken-wire cot and one double-decker, and in a little alcove a 
place for the signallers and the servants. 

About eleven o'clock we started out to make an inspection of 
the posts. There was no moon and it was black as ink. Without 
a guide I should have easily gotten lost. We went over the top. 



42 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

of course, even at the front line, because it was dark and the Boche 
could not see and there was only the chance of being struck by a 
stray shot. All my men were in place. We got back to the dug- 
out about two o'clock in the morning. That was not the time to 
sleep, of course.. Officers do not sleep at night in the front 
trenches — at least the British did not, and neither did I. So that 
we sat down to wait for a "stand-to," at which time the whole 
line must be inspected. "Stand-to" is the period beginning just 
about an hour before dawn and lasting until daylight has come. 
During this period every man must be at his post with rifle or 
automatic resting on the parapet and eyes fixed to the front, wait- 
ing for an attack — as experience had long since taught the British 
that the Boche might be expected over just before dawn, or just 
before darkness at night, so that there is "stand-to" again at night 
beginning just before dusk and lasting until after dark. So that 
Captain Dundas and I sat there and talked and smoked until 
"stand-to" which at that time of the year was about four o'clock 
in the morning, if I remember correctly. 

I shall never forget that dark chilly morning we came out of 
the little underground house and started on our rounds. We 
were going along the top of the trench, of course, and Captain 
Dundas began to sing a Scotch song — maybe from sheer joy of 
being alive, or maybe to show an American officer how little he 
cared for danger. At any rate we hadn't gone more than fifty 
yards when machine gun bullets began to whistle fast and furious 
about our ears. I, supposing that caution was the better part of 
valor, jumped down into the trench and walked along it, but he 
laughed at my fears, but pretty soon the bullets began to strike 
about the top of the trench, and he followed my lead without 
another word. We went on in silence and pretty soon jumped 
out of the trench and across to the front trench. I remember 
it impressed me as a spectacle of real beauty as we passed along 
the line from post to post. There was the low challenge and the 
invariable answer. The silent, motionless sentinels standing there 
straining their eyes to the front and trying to penetrate the dark- 
ness, and no doubt discovering all sorts of momentary imaginary 
foes creeping upon them. And then the lights going up, and the 
rattle of the machine guns breaking the silence before the dawn. 
I am told that soldiers watching at night see all sorts of imagi- 
nary enemies creeping upon them — and I'm not so sure but what 
I saw a few myself that morning. I remember before we com- 
pleted the inspection light began to come and we had to take 
cover on our way back to headquarters, and we did not reach 
there until full dawn. I remember when Captain Dundas started 
ahead of me down the dugout he said with a real Scotch toss of 
the head back at me, "And now we'll eat." We went below and 
had a fine breakfast, and then turned in for a few hours of sleep 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 43 

on the chicken-wire cots. I remember how cold I was with noth- 
ing around me except the clothes I had on. 

About eleven o'clock Major Holt came up to see me. He 
asked me what I expected to do in case of an attack. I told him 
I had been thinking a great deal about that matter and that I had 
come to the conclusion that we could do nothing but fight until 
we were killed or captured. Indeed, that was our situation. 
Captain Dundas' men and mine together made one company in 
the front trench. We were in the very front line almost a mile 
(1,500 yards) in front of the main line in the forward zone, 
holding a front over a mile wide. We had been put there — 
as a part of the British tactics — to stand the first shock of any 
blow that might come from the Boche, and hold long enough to 
give warning to the main line of resistance to get in shape, but 
there was no possibility of getting back over open country from 
our position to oui support line in the face of an attacking foe. 
We would not only have been a target for the enemy but would 
have blanked the fire of our own support line. So that we were 
mere bufifers pushed far enough to the front to keep the Boche 
Minenwerfers from reaching our support line — an attack in 
force would have swallowed us up in no time. We were in a 
very unenviable position. We frankly admitted this and took 
our chances as many others had done. 

After lunch I made the round of my posts, taking my Orderly 
with me, and using the trenches for the whole trip. I shall never 
forget the trench that communicated between the support trench 
and the front line trench. It was called a trench and perhaps was 
originally a trench, but it had been shot and battered to pieces 
so that it resembled an irregular gully more than a trench. The 
Boche Minenwerfers had done some terrible work. There were 
shell holes in it and near it big enough to conceal an army truck, 
and it was so filled up at places that you had to expose yourself 
to the enemy at many points in passing along it. The mud in the 
trench and in the front and support trench was thigh deep at 
places. I was muddy from my hips down and water had run in 
over the tops of my high boots. Add to this the fact that the body 
sweats under pressure of great exertion and excitement, especially 
when the body has undergone loss of sleep and great fatigue, and 
you have some idea of what that experience was like, let alone 
the tension of bursting shells and all that. I remember especially 
the pressure under which my Orderly worked. He was under the 
added disadvantage of not knowing just what I was going to 
tell him to do next. He never lost his sense of humor, however. 
I recall I asked him one time what explanation he would make 
as to his German name if he were captured. He said he was 
going to tell them that his name was O'Brien. His name was 
Albrecht. 



44 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

That night Captain Dundas' Company was to be reHeved. I 
remember how buoyed up in spirits he and his officers were as 
the time for reHef approached. It was really a jolly little party 
they had in the dugout that night. It seemed almost incredible 
that such a thing should have taken place in such circumstances 
as those. There was one Lieutenant whose name I cannot recall 
— a fine young Scot with a little black mustache — who had taken 
enough of the Scotch to loosen his tongue (although the Scots 
don't usually need anything to loosen their tongues) and he began 
to sing, and the others joined in. This is the song they sang: 

If you want to find the privates, 
We know where they are, 
We know where they are, 
We know where they are. 
If you want to find the privates. 
We know where they are. 

Up to their in mud. 

We saw them, we saw them, 

Up to their in mud. 

We saw them up to their in mud. 

If you want to find the sergeants, 

We know where they are. 

We know where they are, 

We know where they are. 

If you want to find the sergeants, 

We know where they are. 

Drinking the privates' rum. 

We saw them, we saw them. 

Drinking the privates' rum. 

We saw them drinking the privates' rum. 

And so on up to Sir Douglas Haig. The officers were "in the 
deep dugout," the Commanding Officer was "cheering the boys at 
dawn," and Sir Douglas Haig, as I recall it, was "back on a long 
furlough." 

Anyway, at the proper time, which was between twelve and 
one o'clock that night, the relief took place, and the new outfit 
that came in was commanded by Lieutenant Rutherford — a gentle, 
refined, petite young gentleman. I recall how he used to spend 
much time brushing his hair and curling his mustache. Indeed, 
he went so far on one occasion as to manicure his nails. But he 
was a very pleasant person withal, and I enjoyed his company 
immensely. 

BURIED BY A SHELL 

Shortly after Lieutenant Rutherford's outfit arrived I remem- 
ber I went out to see whether the rations and water had come 
up for my men, as I had arranged for a party to come up from 
the support line with these supplies, and while engaged on this 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 45 

mission word was broug^ht to me that two of my men had been 
buried by a Minenwerfer shell at post No. 5. I immediately 
went over there. I remember it was as dark as pitch and I relied 
on the lights that Jerry was sending up to guide me to the post. 
I jumped into the trench just before I reached this post and as I 
came on to it there was a man crouching in the trench on his 
hands and knees as if in the act of springing forward. I chal- 
lenged him but he made no response, and was about to shoot when 
one of the men from the post came up and said it was one of 
my men who had been buried. The man could not speak a word 
and could not rise. He was shocked through and through. The 
other man was wounded but not so badly shocked. I went back 
to the support trench immediately and sent over two stretchers 
and four stretcher carriers and ordered the men taken back to 
the relay places for movement to the first aid post in the sunken 
road. 

It was on this night also that a Boche patrol came over and 
made an attack on this post. It was easily repulsed by the posts 
supporting each other and one of the enemy left his helmet and 
gun on the ground, but we unfortunately made no captures. But 
it was extremely fortunate that none of our men were captured 
as every effort was made to prevent the Boche from making any 
captures so as to identify the Americans on the British front at 
this point. 

At any rate that was an eventful night and full of excitement 
and full of work and rush and what not, and I was not sorry when 
breakfast time came so that I could get a little rest. Unfortu- 
nately after breakfast another officer had come in and taken my 
bunk space and I had to lie down on the floor, but I could not 
sleep because I was wet from my hips down and chilled through 
and through, and got up and smoked to while away the time in 
great discomfort. The afternoon was passed in the usual inspec- 
tions and attending to ration and water details and the like. I 
had arranged that Lieutenant Tydings, whom I had left in com- 
mand of the two platoons in the support line, should come up and 
relieve me that night as I felt that three days and nights under 
the conditions there were quite sufificient for any officer in the 
front line trench ; but Lieutenant Tydings was detached to go 
out on a patrol that night, and I remained until the following 
afternoon in that place, at which time Lieutenant Tydings came 
up and I went back to the support line. I spent that night in the 
support line and my company was relieved the next afternoon, 
August 7th. I shall not forget the night we were relieved. Of 
course I had my two platoons that were in the sunken road in 
readiness to move out at ten o'clock, but there was some delay 
in getting the two platoons out of the front trench, and I waited 



46 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

there at the crucifix until two o'clock in the morning before mov- 
ing out with the entire company. It was a rainy, muddy night. 
I shall never forget how we silently trudged through the mire 
by the Sugar Mill expecting every minute to hear the Boche 
shells coming over, but we had struck the interval between two 
bursts of fire and we cleared the place before he opened up again. 
In going out that night the guide lost us (as guides usually do) 
and we did not reach Shrapnel Corner where we were to board 
the dinkeys until five o'clock the next morning. It was a horrible 
night with the shells and mud and rain and fatigue and all that, 
but the men were not unhappy going back in the cold open flat 
cars, because they were getting out from under the tension of the 
four-day experiences in the front line. We reached Bavincourt 
about 7 :30 or 8 :00 o'clock, tired and hungry and wet and cold. 
It did not take us long to get breakfast and to bed. 

THE THIRD TRIP TO THE FRONT 

The respite at good old quiet peaceful Bavincourt, notwith- 
standing the drills and drudgery and all that, was very delightful, 
but the respite was very short as we got orders to move out again 
on the 15th day of August. This time we were evidently going 
into something unusual because we were ordered to store all our 
equipment before pulling out so as to make room for a British 
outfit that was coming into Bavincourt. It was determined also 
that an advance party of officers and N. C. O.'s should go ahead 
in advance of the troops so as to reconnoiter the positions and 
arrange for guides and things of that sort before the troops got 
there. It had been determined that "E" Company should occupy 
the reserve positions at the Sugar Mill this time, so that I went 
ahead with Sergeant Johnson of my company, together with the 
other company commanders, each with one sergeant. We left 
Bavincourt just after lunch, the truck passing along the same 
route as before. We reached Ransart about 1 :30 or 2 :00 o'clock 
and went to the brigade headquarters just outside of that town. 
Here, after a little refreshment, the guides were furnished, and 
we struck out for the forward zone. We took a slightly different 
course from the one we had taken on the two previous occasions 
the guide said, because there were enough of us to attract artillery 
fire if we should come under observation, and he took us down a 
little valley to the left which ended just at the Sugar Mill. 
Whether he saw us or not, the road proved very uncomfortable 
as the Boche put over quite a few shells along that road, some 
falling so close that some heavy pieces of broken steel whizzed 
pretty close to our heads, and perhaps if we had not dropped in 
time would have caused casualties. 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 47 

AT THE SUGAR MILL SITE 

At any rate we reached the Sugar Mill site perhaps at four 
o'clock, and as this was the position I was to occupy I stopped 
there and got hold of the British Sergeant with the command 
there holding the position and went over the ground and deter- 
mined upon the position to locate my platoons, my rifle and auto- 
matic rifle posts and things of that sort ; and after seeing to the 
arrangements about rations and water and taking over the trench 
stores on hand, went into the company headquarters and waited 
for my company to come up. The company headquarters were 
in a dugout about one hundred yards across the road from the 
Sugar Mill and close to the oft-shelled cross-roads at the corner 
of the Mill site. It was a cold and clammy little hole way under 
the earth — that dugout — where candles had to burn all the while 
to keep out utter darkness. Indeed, this is true of all dugouts that 
I have ever been in. 

About ten o'clock that night my troops began to come up and 
my guides met them on the road at the entrance to the Sugar 
Mill and showed each platoon its location and the positions for 
the posts. About twelve o'clock when all were in I went out and 
made a tour of inspection to see that everything was in shape, 
after which I turned in for a few hours' sleep on one of the 
chicken-wire cots, using my gas mask for a pillow. 

I shall not go into details of what was done at this position but 
shall only recall a few of the important things worthy of remem- 
bering during my stay in this position. 

It must be remembered that this was the reserve position in 
the forward zone, and we were perhaps five hundred yards back 
from battalion headquarters.. The chief tactical use of the posi- 
tion was to take care of an enemy movement around either flank 
of the line ahead, but especially around the right flank, as the 
British were convinced that if the Boche made an attempt to 
break the line at that point he would come around our right flank 
and down the little valley from Ayette that led right into the 
Sugar Mill site, and most of my dispositions were made with a 
view of taking care of just such a situation. But I did not neglect 
the left flank. The day after my company got into position I 
made a further and closer reconnaissance of the entire position 
and, not satisfied with some of the posts, changed them, and I 
made up a detailed plan of shifts in positions to take care of any 
situations that might eventually arise in case of attack, and I had 
a drawing of the place made showing these changes and filed it 
with the Battalion Commander and with the position papers. I 
shall not forget how I dodged the shells that day. Jerry seemed 
to have had a regular system of putting over shells in that neigh- 
borhood. I remember I was fortunate in leaving a place just 



48 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

before he began shelling it, by going to the place he had just 
shelled. I remember, however, after I got back to the head- 
quarters after being out more than two hours without mishap, I 
decided to go out and take another look, but just as I reached the 
top of the steps I heard the whiz of a coming shell and ducked 
in the entrance while it went over me striking only fifty or sixty 
feet in the rear. After a few moments I started out again and 
the same thing happened, and I decided that my luck had changed, 
and went back into the dugout. One should not tamper with his 
luck, or tempt it. 

We came into the line this time under the impression that we 
would make a regular tour of six days as the British were doing. 
One can imagine, therefore, with what interest and excitement 
we heard the rumor on our third day there, and in fact could see 
the indications, that the British were about to go over the top 
for a drive. In fact, we were all naturally excited over the pros- 
pect of going over the top, and we thought of course that we were 
going over with the British. In fact, all preparations were made 
with that in view, so that one can imagine our surprise when on 
Sunday night, August 15th, about six o'clock, we got orders to 
pull out of the line and report back to Ransart for further orders. 
It was afterwards thought by many officers — and asserted by 
some who claimed to know — that the British had expected and 
intended that we should "go over" with them, but that the Amer- 
ican higher commanders had other use for us, and pulled us out 
after hearing that the British were going over the top. However 
that may be, I got orders to move out that night upon being 
relieved by the British troops. 

ADINFER 

I sent my platoons out separately, as soon as they were relieved 
and about eleven o'clock went out myself with my headquarters. 
That is a night I shall never forget as long as I live because of 
the horrible experience I went through in going out of the lines. 
The main road that leads from the Sugar Mill to Ransart may 
be said to be in the form of the capital letter A, with the Sugar 
Mill at the foot of the left side, a little town called Adinfer at 
the apex, and Ransart at the foot of the right side. In making 
this trip, however, the British (and the Americans, too) invariably 
used a dirt road, which may be said to be the cross piece of the 
A, for two reasons : first, because it was shorter, and, second, 
because British Artillery was located in the town of Adinfer and 
the Boche was constantly pounding at it with his heavv shells 
trying to reach the British guns. On the night in question we 
passed up the main road from the Sugar Mill and when I reached 
the dirt road leading ofif to the right I did not take it because I 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 49 

remembered that we had passed out that road on our last trip out 
when the guide had lost us.. We continued on the main road, 
therefore, and presently came into a little torn down village which 
I knew to be Adinfer, the one place we had been cautioned to 
avoid. I frankly confessed to myself that I did not know what 
to do. In peace times one could have sat down for a few minutes 
to think and then perhaps have asked a policemean the way to 
Ransart, but there was no living soul in that tumbled down pile of 
rocks that the Boche was battering to pieces. There was one ray 
of hope; there was a pond of rainwater which looked like the 
one we had passed on the previous occasion when the British 
guide had lost us, and there was a road leading around the base 
of the pond and in the direction I thought led to Ransart, and I 
remembered also on the previous occasion we had passed a ghastly 
crucifix at the edge of the town on that road, if indeed that 
were the road ; so I sent Lieutenant Turner out to see if he could 
see the crucifix. He returned in a few minutes and said there was 
no crucifix there. Puzzled and dumbfounded, I took my men up 
beside a part of an old shell-ridden wall and took out my map and 
flashlight to see if I could tell by the map which way to go. I had 
no more than unfolded my map when I heard the whining of a 
great German shell. Every man fell to his face against the wall 
and waited for the coming of the devilish thing. No man who 
has not passed through it can tell the anguish and horror of these 
few minutes. Perhaps this one shell would kill every man of us. 
It came closer and closer and finally, with a great shock and bang, 
it burst not a hundred feet from us, throwing up dirt and stone 
and steel all around and over us. I confess that my "wind was 
up" as the British say. But I must say that I felt worse because 
I had jeopardized the lives of so many other men than on my 
own account. 

The first shock over I attempted to examine my map again, 
and again we heard the whining of a shell and went down on 
the ground waiting for whatever might befall. This one passed 
over us a little to the left and shook the earth and scattered things 
about us. In these circumstances I knew that we must get out 
of that place even though we took the wrong road, so we started 
out along the road on which I had sent Lieutenant Turner to find 
the crucifix and we had not gone over two hundred yards when we 
found that we were on the right road, for there behind the trees 
was the great crucifix shining in the pale light of the rising moon. 

THE GHASTLY CRUCIFIX 

I shall never forget that crucifix. It was the size of the living 
Jesus, with His arms outstretched upon the cross, untouched by 
all the steel that had fallen there. It was like a ghastly sentinel 



50 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

Standing at the entrance to the town, all tumbled down and 
broken up, grieving for the destroyed firesides. A great pity 
seemed to fill my heart as I passed that image that night. I 
thought of the once happy and peaceful little village. I thought 
of the mothers and fathers and daughters and sons, and of the 
sweethearts, who were accustomed in former times to come to 
that image and bend the knee and pray and perhaps confess their 
petty sins ; and then thought of the desolation and the destruction, 
and of these same simple folks somewhere in the world perhaps 
grieved and homesick for that little place ; and then of the silent, 
sorrowful Savior still watching the sacred spot and waiting for 
their return. The whole spectacle so touched me that I could 
not keep back the tears from my eyes as I thought of these things 
while we passed out of the little town and down into Ransart. 

We reached Ransart about three o'clock, and there I got my 
whole company together to await further orders. While we were 
waiting several men were brought in who had been wounded on 
the v^^ay out. some of them wounded on the road we would have 
taken if we had not gotten lost. 

About 1 :00 o'clock the battalion moved out in the direction of 
La Couche, about ten kilometers distant, which latter place we 
reached about 3 :30 in the morning. The men without tents or 
blankets stayed in an orchard for the rest of the night and the 
officers slept on the floor of a little frame building. There was 
evidence that our movement out of the lines had been sudden as 
we had to send trucks back to Bavincourt for the men's packs 
after we got to La Couche. 



Following is a list of the officers and men who served with 
me on the British Front : 

First Lieutenants : W. W. Martin and Charles O. Tydings. Second 
lieutenants : George V. Henderson, K. M. Bixler, William E. Hare and 
Walter L. Turner. 

First Sergeant Jerome M. O'Connor ; Supply Sergeant George Schants ; 
Mess Sergeant Leonard C. Kinkead. Sergeants : George A. Crawford, 
Andrew J. Downing, Harry H. Harenski, Edwin Johnson, George F. 
Lear, John B. Millcn, William Maisch, John M. Maitland, Cyril P. O'Brien, 
Raymond W. Osterwald, William A. Reinhardt, Edward Winwood, Jr., 
and Lyle E. Whitesell. Corporals : John H. Broomhall, Otto C. Bur- 
roughs, James J. Coyle, Carl E. Cronemeyer, Frank Domiano, Frank B. 
Eburg, Lloyd Ellery, Daniel J. Fackiner, Frank Fulton, Harry W. Glass, 
Henry Kienast, Thomas E. Lang, Homer E. Ludwig, William P. McClos- 
key, Eli F. Myers, Robert J. O'Hara, Peter J. Och, Linwood H. Patrick, 
Roy Pearce, Hayden D. Robinson, Paul J. Schmucker, George J. Schmidt, 
Will O. Smith, William H. Snyder, William M. Steiner, Frank D. Treas- 
ure and Arthur C. Tucker. Mechanics : G. R. Jones, Francis L. McCool, 
James C. SchoU, and James B. Temple, Jr. Buglers : John O. Clark 
and Edward Saxton. Cooks : William M. Himes, Edward J. Jones, 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 51 

Egnac Matulaits and Imer Zimmerman. Privates, first class : Albert 
Albrecht, Harry L. Black, William Brannigan, Joseph A. Brogan, Samuel 
A. Bruner, William E. Crockett, Constantino DiCarlo, Andy Doran, George 
A. Dougherty, John J. DriscoU, Oscar D. Foust, John Frammoso, John 
Fryer, Riley M. Gardner, Thomas J. Grubbs, Samuel Hill, William Hollis, 
Alva C. Hughes, James L. Ice, John P. Jene, Harry K. Johnston, James 
C. Kenney, Charles V. Kerler, Alexander Kerr, George D. Kettering, 
Michael D. Kichinko, Albert R. Knecht, Antonio Locorotondo, Robert W. 
McLaughlin, William H. McLean, Rajmond Marciniak, Andrew B. Mann, 
Ernest O. Mills, Fred W. Moslener, Gwilym Morgan, Antonio Motturo, 
Harold T. Patton, Joseph Pedi, Robert V. B. Raymont, Clemente Recce, 
Guiseppe Ricaridelli, Andrew Schwartz, Charles J. Scovron, James W. 
Shepard, Joseph J. Sieber, Harry C. Silvis, Harvey C. Stevens, Boyd A. 
Stine, Joseph Stornello, Phillip S. Teasdale, Florence O. Uhlman, Charles 
H. VanDyke and William E. Wissinger. Privates : Raymond E. Addis, 
Claude S. Agnew, Battiste Amolini, John R. Amprim, John A. x\nderson, 
Daniel W. Bailey, Virgin T. Bailey, James H. Barkley, Ernesto Ballerini, 
Charles H. Barr, John L. Bassinger, Aaron Beam, Guiseppe Belfiore, 
Bernard E. Bengston, Josef Bienick, Harry E. Bittner, Archie O. Blair, 
Michael C. Boyle, Martin Brennan, George W. Brown, Richard H. Burger, 
Russell C. Burnworth, Adamo Buzatti, Vittorio Carlo, Raymond Carson, 
Sabatino Cervino, Perlis F. Chase, Archie W. Chestnut, Peter Chronis, 
Adorno Ciotti, Harry S. Cochran, Martin Comer, Thomas Conroy, Harry 
G. Coughenour, Thurman Coughenour, John Cremonini, John Cunning- 
ham, Waclaw Czapkiewscz, Tony Demarcho, Angelo Dicillo, Andria Digia- 
como, Gustave A. Duerr, Norman Foulds, Camillo Fedele, Leonard R. 
Gaffron, Eugene H. Gallimore, Sestilio Giannini, Lombardi Guido, Mike 
Haretis, Frank J. Haleniak, Carl E. Holshue, George A. Hromi, Peter 
Jagiolka. Joseph Karcanskas, William J. Kelly, Leo R. Kintz, Aaron 
Krell, Walter Kudzman, Antonas Kuras, William Labash, Richard Lam- 
mie, Alberto Lamortcalla, John Largenton, James F. Laufifer, John 
Lauterbach, Oliver C. Leeper, John M. Lesko, Frederick J. Limbach, 
Arthur E. Lint, Tony Lucia, Frank L. McAtamanay, Clarence E. Mc- 
Gowan, John McKivens. Henry Maags, Francesco Mastroianni, Joe Mas- 
saglia, Gomer F. Malick, William K. Mansfield, Robert J. Maxon, Oscar 
Meese, Tom Messina, Boyd C. Miller, Simon J. Milewski, Edgar J. 
Moore, Giovanni E. Morrone, John C. Mulyar, Thomas F. Murray, John 
S. Pavlock, Carmel Pellerite, Eugene M. Perry, Steve F. Petrenchick, 
Frank Phillips, Steve Podaney, Ignas Radmiskes. Robert Ray, Ray Reed, 
William L. Reed, Reuben N. Rehng, Francis M. Reynard, Domenico Ron- 
cace, Phillip A. Rowles, Ernest Santee, Vincenzo Scalise, Raymend J. 
Smith, Vincenzo Socco, Louis Steefe, Joe Toth, Joseph Valeo, Pasquale 
Verdecchia, Stenley Waszkiewcz, Fred Wilson, James R. Woodson, George 
W. Woody, Clyde E. Yockey, Stanley Zelline, and Fred J. Blessel. 



52 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 



CHAPTER IV 



OUT OF THE LINE 

The next day, August 16th, about 11:00 o'clock we started 
back to a Httle town called Rosierre, and in going to that place 
we passed near Bavincourt and through the town of Baudricourt 
where we had lived some time before. That was a long, tedious, 
tiresome march of perhaps twenty kilometers, but there was an 
atmosphere of relief and a sense of humor amongst the men 
throughout the trip. I remember at one time during the after- 
noon, while we were resting on the roadside, overhearing some of 
the things the men were saying. (It is impossible to repress the 
soldier's humor, no matter what his difficulties may be). One 
man said : 

"Jesus, I wish I was home in jail." 

The other man replied : 

"If the United States knew what I thought about this war they 
would put me in jail for a thousand years." 

Another man, who was talking about the great use of ammu- 
nition and the destruction of property on the front and the great 
burdens of a soldier generally, assuming an attitude of disgust 
remarked : 

"By God, we came over here to fight and we'll have to go back 
home and pay for what we've shot away." 

But all this was in humorous vein. They say that a good sol- 
dier always kicks. As a matter of fact men in the ensemble 
always kick. There must be some outlet of expression, and since 
all are in the same boat there is nothing to do but to cuss the man 
who is running the boat. 

We reached Rosierre about five o'clock in the afternoon and 
the men soon had their tents pitched, and the officers got their 
billets, and in a short time supper was on the way and everything 
was well with the world again. I remember at Rosierre Cor- 
poral Fackiner, the Company Clerk, had set up the Orderly Room 
under a shed adjacent to a French residence. Presently the 
Frenchman, a jolly fat man, came out and asked what the type- 
writer was. I knew very little French, so I said "Correspond- 
ence." "Ah," he said, "Telephone," meaning that he understood 
it to be a telephone. This man had never seen a telephone or a 
typewriter and he was past fifty years of age. 

We left Rosierre the next day and reached Bonniers in the 
afternoon (August 20th), where we remained for two days. 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 53 

Bonniers was a little country town of no interest. I remember 
that some other officers had taken some of our billets and Lieuten- 
ant Turner and I slept in an upstairs room that you had to reach 
by going in the back way. The men pitched their tents in an open 
quadrangle in a beautiful green sodded lot in an old orchard. 
It was at this place that we turned in the British rifles that we had 
gotten back with the British, and were issued the Lee-Enfield 
Rifle. We understood that we were going down on the "Ameri- 
can Sector." The men were not at all displeased with the pros- 
pect, especially because they knew they would then draw the 
American ration, which was not only a larger ration than the 
British but better suited to the American taste — not so much 
cheese and jam and tea and stufif of that sort. Indeed, I think 
there was a deeper reason than that. The men wanted to go 
where there was a distinctly American enterprise going on, as 
they had grown tired of playing second fiddle to the British. This 
joy found expression, unfortunately, in the use of too much wine 
at Bonniers, and we had some trouble with men drinking too much 
there, but nothing serious. 

BOUND FOR THE AMERICAN SECTOR 

We pulled out of Bonniers at midnight of August 22-23 and 
marched to Bouquemaison where we were to board the train for 
we knew not where, but for the American sector toward the south 
wherever that was. We reached Bouquemaison about three o'clock. 
It was a beautiful, moonlit night. I remember I had the kitchen 
set up and had hot cofifee made for the men before they boarded 
the train. It was splendid cofifee and, speaking for myself, it 
warmed the body (the nights being always cold in France, even 
in August) and stimulated the tired nerves and brain. 

We got on board by five o'clock, men, packs, rations, mules, 
wagons and all, and pulled out on the long and tiresome journey. 
We went south at first and reached Paris that afternoon, and then 
took an eastward turn traveling all that night and until the next 
afternoon when we reached Chatillon-sur-Seine where we 
detrained. It was a long tiresome journey considering the condi- 
tions under which we traveled, thirty-six men to a car (and they 
little French cars) with rations and packs and what not in the 
same cars. The men, and officers, too, were happy to reach some 
stopping place where they could get ofif and stretch their legs, as 
we had not been ofif the train except for a few minutes now and 
then in the railroad yards when the train chanced to stop, since 
the journey began. And there was a great lack of water, so that 
immediately we got off at Chatillon somebody located a pump and 
the companies marched by in file and filled their canteens, one 
after the other. The companies were then marched to a lot in 



54 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

the bottom by a stream and there pitched tents and made ready 
for the night. Our immediate destination was Beaunotte — 27 
kilometers south of Chatillon — and in order to transport the packs 
and save the men I went out in search of some Government trucks, 
Chatillon being at that time the center of much army activity. I 
received a side-car and went over to St. Colombe and there got 
four trucks to come for the packs on the morrow. When I got 
back to the companies supper was over and I sat down at the 
company kitchen and ate something that was left. I remember I 
had no bedding-roll with me and no billet and I spent that night in 
a pup-tent with Private George Karnes, who was my Orderly. 

ANCIENT CHATILLON 

The next morning, August 24th, we pulled out of Chatillon, 
passing through the main part of the city. It was a place of some 
size — perhaps ten thousand people — and of great historical inter- 
est. It was said to have been founded by the Celts even before 
the Gauls came into Gaul, and was no doubt a town of some 
antiquity when the Romans came over to colonize Gaul about the 
time of Christ. St. Varies Church, a very beautiful Gothic struc- 
ture, was commenced in 898. The graveyard is said to have been 
established on the site of the castle of the Dukes of Burgundy. 
The place has played some part in more modern history as well, 
for it was the birthplace and home of Marshal Alarmont (one of 
Napoleon's illustrious marshals), and it was at Chatillon that Gen- 
eral Joffre had his headquarters in the great battle of the Marne. 

Great history was in the making again as our troops marched 
singing through that ancient town that morning. Here the Gaul 
had overcome the Celt, the Roman had overcome the Gaul, the 
Teuton had overcome the Roman and the Gaul and had been 
absorbed by them into the French, and now the children of all 
these peoples had come three thousand miles across the seas from 
a new home in the West to prevent some of our Cousins from 
making fresh incursions upon the others. But curious are the 
turns of history. 

We left the historic town behind us at seven-thirty in the 
morning and started out on our twenty-seven kilometer hike, a 
typical march on which to note the curious psychology of march- 
ing men. They start out fresh from the night's rest, singing and 
keeping step as they go ; then a few kilometers take the song out 
of the voice and some of the spring out of the step, but there is 
yet surplus breath and courage left to talk ; then a few more 
kilometers and they cease to talk and they walk in dogged silence ; 
then, with sore feet and aching limbs, they cuss and growl and 
complain; and finally, hope springs into the heart as they near 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 55 

the journey's end and they walk in dogged silence again; such is 
a march. 

We reached Beaunotte about four o'clock in the afternoon, 
and the men and officers soon found shelter, as we sent a billeting 
detail ahead. Beaunotte had nothing about it to account for its 
name. It was a dirty little country town on the side of the road, 
with one side flanked by a hill and the other by a stream. It was a 
mere collection of farmhouses with a population of perhaps one 
hundred souls. It was typically dirty, also, and we had to clean 
it up as we did all the little towns we stayed in. There was a 
bathhouse, and, strange to say, one that had evidently been used 
for generations by the French. 

I had my billet in a back room on the ground floor ; the front 
room I used for an Orderly Room and a mess place for the 
officers. The only objection to it was that the cows lived in the 
next room, and I was afraid that I disturbed them at night with 
my snoring, as I am sure they disturbed me day and night by 
their odors. But it was a game of give and take, as we creatures 
must live in harmony, especially in times of war. 

On the morrow I made careful survey of the town and decided 
that it would be better for the men to take them out of the billets, 
as they were not satisfactory, so I took them out and had them 
pitch tents in a sloping lot at the edge of the town. There was 
a clear stream running by the place and plenty of good water and 
I brought the rolling kitchen up too and put it in the lot. I had a 
rack made of skinned poles to put the pots and dixies on and 1 
had them shined up so that the sun shining on them blinded the 
eyes. It was a fine company area and I was complimented on it 
by many officers from higher up who came by to inspect it. 

Beaunotte was not a pretty place, but the climate was fine, 
with cool nights and warm days, and everybody was in fine spirit 
and mettle there. 

It was here that I received orders that separated me from "E" 
Company. 

I TAKE COMMAND OF THE FIRST BATTALION 

I was placed in command of the First Battalion, 320th Infan- 
try, by an order dated August 28th, 1918. It meant simply a 
promotion and a transfer to another part of the same regiment, 
but it hurt me a great deal to leave "E" Company, which I had 
commanded for a year and a day. It is not strange that I should 
have been so much attached to the officers and men of my old 
company. I had been associated with most of the officers and 
men from the time the company was formed at Camp Lee, in the 
fall of 1917. I had taken these raw recruits in citizen clothes 
from about Pittsburgh and trained them for the most part in all 



56 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

that they knew about the military. And there is something in the 
disciphne of mind and pride of heart that comes in the making of 
a soldier that causes a real bond of affection to spring up between 
a company commander and his men, an affection that was not 
always apparent, to be sure, because there were times, I am cer- 
tain, when at my back they roundly cussed me — but I have a 
secret hope that they would not have allowed any one else to cuss 
me. So that when I left "E" Company it was like leaving home 
and friends and loved ones and going out into a strange world 
again. At least, that was the way I felt on the morning of the 
29th of August as I walked alone the three kilometers to Que- 
migny, where the First Battalion was located. 

Quemigny was really not a town in the true sense, but merely 
a few stone houses clustered about an old chateau. One road 
ran through the place and a clear little stream (the headwaters 
of the Seine) washed the base of the castle. Battalion headquar- 
ters were in the schoolhouse. 

I found Lieutenant Colonel Gordon, the former commander of 
the battalion, already packing up to leave on some secret mission 
to the front. He left the same day and did not afterwards return 
to the battalion but, upon returning from his secret mission, he 
remained with regimental headquarters as second in command of 
the regiment. 

After going over some matters with Colonel Gordon, my first 
desire was to see something of the outfit that I was to command. 
Two of my companies ("A" and "D") were bivouacked before 
the town on a bare plot and two of them ("B" and "C") were 
camped by the side of the Seine about a kilometer upstream. The 
latter situation was an especially delightful one. There was 
plenty of fresh cool water; and a casual dip, clothed only in a 
sylvan bathrobe, was a luxury not to be laughed at as things go 
in the army, and the men were enjoying it to the full. I remem- 
ber, also, that "C" Company had constructed an oven of empty 
cans and mud (such is the inventive genius of the American mind) 
and on my first visit Captain Miller treated me to some of the 
most delicious biscuits I ever ate.. 

My first visit to the companies was a very pleasant one and 
helped me to overcome the natural difficulty I had in my own mind 
of becoming adjusted to the new situation of being in the fullest 
sense a battalion commander instead of a company commander, 
although I had been a temporary battalion commander on many 
occasions. And I recall also with what willingness, not to say 
grace, the officers fell into the new order of things and almost 
vied with each other in carrying out the orders and instructions 
of the new Battalion Commander. 

But I was not altogether among strangers when it came to my 
officers because I had known many of them at Camp Lee, and 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 57 

two of the officers of the battahon had served under my command 
in "E" Company. It took me, therefore, only a short time to feel 
at home in the First Battahon, and I hked the pleasant situation at 
Quemigny, but our stay there was destined to be short-lived. 

MOVING AGAIN 

Orders to move came in the afternoon of August 30th, the 
next day after I had taken command, and by 6 :30 o'clock we had 
"pulled up stakes," as the saying goes, and were on our way to 
an unknown destination. It was always this way with orders, 
and I suppose it had to be so in war; they never told you where 
you were going, and I found that the orders received by a Bat- 
talion Commander were about as cryptic as those received by a 
Company Commander. We reached St. Marc, and by 8 :30 o'clock, 
on the plain by the Seine 'River, where indeed all the regiment had 
assembled, we pitched tents for the night. Bright and early the 
next morning (in fact so early it was not bright) we struck tents 
and moved away in the direction of Chatillon. At noon the regi- 
ment pulled up into a great field and had dinner, and resumed the 
march at 1 :30. I recall the enthusiasm of the people as we passed 
through the villages on the way. At one place, I remember, the 
women came out and plucking the flowering weed we call cocks- 
comb in Virginia, gave them to us as we passed, and by that sim- 
ple act touched the lieart of many a weary soldier lad, and I con- 
fess myself that it seemed to take the load ofif the back and put 
it on the heart. Indeed, that was a long tiresome journey, espe- 
cially to the men laden with their heavy packs and equipment, and 
when we pulled into the city of Chatillon at 4 :30 in the afternoon, 
there was many a weary, footsore boy who could not have added 
a kilo to the eighteen if his life had depended upon it. 

The whole regiment pitched tents in the bottom by the River 
Seine at the edge of Chatillon. It was Saturday night and a great 
many of the men wanted to go to town, perhaps from force ot 
habit ; perhaps not, who can tell ; at any rate we let them go. 

My billet was a second-story back room in the little town of 
Courcelle. just across the Seine from Chatillon. It was a fine 
room with a great bedstead with canopies over it that gave it a 
real Oriental touch. I was gratified that the morrow was Sunday, 
and I took fine advantage of the early morning hours. Just back 
of my billet was a place where I learned I could get a bath. I 
went there Saturday night and tried to get a bath but some one 
had engaged the tub for the evening and I made an engagement for 
eleven the next day. The bathtub was a crude pewter thing that 
sat in the middle of the floor and looked more like a coffin than a 
bathtub. The madam and her daughter heated the water on the 
stove for the bath, and you had to bathe, so to speak, between 



58 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

"heats," but I got my Saturday's bath on Sunday and didn't feel 
any the worse for it. 

Sunday was devoted mostly to "visiting" amongst the men, as 
this was the first time since we had left Camp Lee that the whole 
regiment had bivouacked together. There was many a renewal 
of friendship between old friends that beautiful first of Septem- 
ber, and great exchanges of news from home. I remember 
towards evening when we were making preparations to move out, 
the men built great fires to burn the piles of trash that had been 
collected. They did not know then, of course, but as it after- 
wards turned out, these fires were a fitting farewell to the period 
when bodies of men were free to walk about in the daytime, or to 
build fires at night, lest they give valuable information to th6 
enemy who might fly over at any time or place. Henceforth, 
therefore, we were to travel at night when the all-seeing eye 
could not see, and hide in the daytime. In other words, we were 
to be an army of cats creeping upon the enemy. 

In our new role, therefore, we marched out from Chatillon 
at seven o'clock in the evening and reached Poincon, our entrain- 
ing point, at the ninth hour. My battalion pulled out to the side 
of the road at Poincon to wait for the train, and as I went down 
to make arrangements, I could hear them singing in the distance. 
The companies were having a singing contest. 

FOR AN UNKNOWN DESTINATION 

We were all aboard, troops, rations, mules, wagons and all, 
and at ten o'clock pulled out into the darkness of the night not 
knowing where we were going, not even the direction for that 
matter, but satisfied that we were going nearer to the battle front. 
As a matter of fact, we went almost north, passing in due time 
through Chaumont, St. Dizier and Revigny. I recall that as we 
approached Revigny a German plane loomed high above us and 
our train stopped so as not to give the Boche a moving target 
that he could see. After leaving Revigny we passed through Bar- 
le-Duc and took a turn slightly to the southward. It must be 
remembered that I was traveling without knowledge of my desti- 
nation although my battalion filled the whole train and I was in 
command of it, and I was beginning to believe also that nobody 
else knew what my destination was. At about noon on the 2d 
of September, I think it was, at a little town called Trouville, 
just south of Bar-le-Duc, an officer who was a member of an 
advance "billeting" party got aboard the train and delivered to me 
orders to detrain at Ligny and march about ten kilos to a wood 
near Montplonne. At Ligny we detrained and received further 
orders to march to a wood outside the town, have dinner and wait 
for darkness to complete the journey. 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 59 

IN THE WOODS 

It was eleven o'clock that night when we reached Montplonne 
wood. Captain Westlake had preceded us and had picked out a 
place for each battalion. I went with him in advance of my 
battalion into the woods and took my company commanders to 
show them the locations for the companies. The wood was dense 
and the night was very dark, and this "wood" (or "bois" as the 
French call it) was laid off into squares of about a hundred yards 
the side by narrow roadways. As we entered one of these road- 
ways leading into the wood we could see a small fire that had been 
built some hundreds of yards ahead of us, and the light shining 
on the trees and leaves made a Gothic arch of solid green. It 
was beautiful. This main archway I named Peyton Avenue in 
honor of the Regimental Commander. 

We had the men file into the areas assigned to them that night 
with no reference to particulars, and no attempt was made to 
pitch tents because it was too dark to see, and every man was 
tired and ready to sleep anywhere, and the men lay down wrapped 
up in their blankets and slept on the ground till morning, and the 
officers who had their bedding rolls spread them out under the 
thick branches and went to sleep with the birds. I dare say few 
men knew it rained that night, until they woke in the morning 
and found themselves wet. 

In the morning, which was Tuesday, we busied ourselves to 
feather our nest, as it were, since we were become birds. I had 
my companies pitch double tents in rows on the right side of 
Peyton Avenue as we entered, with kitchens, headquarters, and 
officers' "quarters" on the left. The plan was really a very beau- 
tiful one but it could not be seen in the woods. I had a mess hall 
for the battalion headquarters built out of boughs. We bent over 
boughs, like the Goths of ancient times, and hid the kitchens and 
things of that sort from the unwelcome gaze of Mr. Boche. In 
other words there was no getting around the fact that we were 
living in the woods like Robin Hood of olden times. As I men- 
tioned before, we were from now on to live and hide in the woods 
by day and march, when necessary, by night, so that the great 
American Army could creep unsuspectingly upon the Boche, tak- 
ing all the advantage of surprise, pounce upon him and whip him 
before he could bring up reinforcements. This was good military 
strategy and the theory of the thing was good, but I am informed 
that in the great offensive which was started afterwards on Sep- 
tember 26th, we captured a German document which gave the 
history and movements of every division of the American Army, 
except the 80th Division, since leaving the United States, so that 
it did not work out practically, except as to the 80th Division, 
because perhaps they did not play the game as we did. 



60 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

But we found it interesing in the woods, certainly at first. 
There was always something pleasant about the song of birds and 
the occasional chirp of a squirrel, besides it was interesting to lie 
in your pup tent at night and listen to the rain pouring down on 
the canvas close to your head — and on your toes, if you were long, 
as I was. I think it must have rained every night we were in those 
woods, and at some time every day. I remember we had a mess 
hall covered over with boughs that seemed to collect the water 
and throw it into your mess kit at meal times. 

We stayed in the Montplonne Wood from Monday night until 
Saturday night — five long, weary, watery days with hardly a 
glimpse of the outside world, and the men were thoroughly "fed 
up" (as the English say) with birds and squirrels and green things 
and rain. One of the men expressed himself this way: "I've 
been in these woods so long, I've got feathers all over me." 

It was at Montplonne, also, that we had the last of those 
famous division problems before we went into actual war. A 
division problem is where you imagine you have some troops and 
you imagine there is an enemy and you walk over the field where 
they are not. Very simple, isn't it? It is, however, the only 
opportunity the staff officers have of demonstrating to you how 
much they know about war. Perhaps the best thing about these 
problems is that they are easy to forget when you go to meet a 
real enemy and have to use common sense. 

A MEMORABLE MARCH 

We pulled out of the woods Saturday night (September 7th), 
every man with full equipment and bound we knew not where. 
I remember that night I had fifteen or twenty men, sick or crip- 
pled, who had not been taken away by the ambulances, who had to 
be left on the edge of the woods all night. I left one of the 
medical officers with them. I shall never forget the march from 
Montplonne Wood to Nancois-le-Petit that night. The night 
was black as ink, and made worse by an occasional flash of light- 
ning that blinded you, and the rain that poured down. The night 
was so dark that you could not see a man six inches in front 
of you, and the road was full of ruts and rocks and what not. 
I remember that my battalion was at the end of the regimental 
column, and the column was so stretched out, with the men prac- 
tically in single file, that the battalions in front could take their 
hourly rest while we behind were taking up slack to keep from 
getting lost, so that we had practically no rest until we had gone 
more than two-thirds of the fifteen-kilometer trip. I remember, 
toward the journey's end we came into a deep ravine well covered 
with trees and ledges from above, and I ordered the men to sit 
down and (in the face of orders from higher up) light their 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 61 

cigarettes and take a smoke. The lighted cigarettes looked like 
so many fireflies in the darkness. How strange, such things 
stick in a man's mind. 

I remember on the march the Third Battalion was ahead of us 
and Captain McNulty, who was commanding "I" Company, was 
detailed by Major Emory for duty at the end of his column with 
a "strong arm squad" trying to corral those who fell out. I knew 
him by his voice and I talked to him, although we could not see 
each other. He was the same old McNulty, full of life and energy 
and hope. 

We pulled into Nancois-le-Petit about two o'clock Sunday 
morning. To our surprise there were billets for the men of my 
battalion and Major Emory's battalion, but Major Holt had to 
go on beyond the town into the woods. 

The next day was Sunday and I was sick and did not get out 
of bed, and did not really get to see the town until Monday. It 
was a good sized old town, with buildings lining the forks of a 
road in the form of a T. Perhaps a town of the same size in 
America would hold a thousand souls — this town contained in 
normal times perhaps two hundred French people. 

We used my billet as battalion headquarters, not, however, 
without making previous "arrangements" with the little old 
woman who lived there. She said that on account of the extra 
mud and wear and tear on the floors she would charge two francs 
a day extra in advance. She never failed to collect, and as it was 
worth that much to get rid of her I paid it out of my own pocket. 

There was the usual work at Nancois-le-Petit ; but there was 
something in the air, as the saying goes — something deeper than 
the more or less idle rumors we had become accustomed to. 
There must have been some real information at the base of it. 
I remember the afternoon we had the meeting at regimental head- 
quarters, all of us were tense with excitement because orders had 
come that we were to move out on some mission up at the front, 
but not even the Colonel seemed to know exactly what that mis- 
sion was. I remember I lingered a few minutes after the meeting 
and Colonel Peyton said to me, "General Brett has given a special 
mission to this regiment, and we want to show him how well we 
can handle it." 

Every time that we had moved there was speculation, of 
course, as to where we were going, and there were rumors that 
we were going straight into the line and all that sort of thing, but 
these rumors were of the usual army brand, but this time it was 
diflferent. There were too many actual preparations as to rations, 
equipment, ammunition, stretchers and the like for an ordinary 
rumor, and we knew that we were this time really going into 
something worth while. 



62 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 



CHAPTER V 



SAINT MIHIEL— THE BATTLE OF THE PACKS 

Call "to quarters" was sounded at a quarter to six and we 
lined up for the busses at eight o'clock. Every man had his pack 
and field equipment and rations for two days in his haversack, 
and so did the ofificers. There was the usual confusion and dis- 
arrangement that Americans have getting aboard the busses, but 
by nine o'clock we pulled out of Nancois-le-Petit. My battalion 
filled about thirty trucks, and my transport was left to follow later. 
I rode on the front of one of the trucks and was very grateful 
to the engine for keeping my feet warm, although my body almost 
froze during that all-night ride, and I often thought of the men 
with no overcoats in those open trucks in the cold all night and 
wondered how they stood it. It is wonderful what men can 
stand when they are put to it, as this little trip on that cold and 
damp September night was nothing to what they went through 
afterwards. 

As I said, the bus trip lasted all night long, but fortunately the 
moon came out about midnight and we made fair headway, 
although some of the trucks bearing the men of one of the other 
battalions were lost and were not found for many days. 

At seven o'clock the next morning (September 13th) we 
pulled into the town of Woimbey on the Meuse River, North of 
St. Mihiel. We debussed, marched along the plank road travers- 
ing the marsh and across the historic Meuse River which, but 
for the little stone bridge, we would have jumped, and sat down 
in the rain and had our breakfast, such as it was. I remember 
I divided my two-pound can of roast beef with several officers 
on the theory that one can of beef only should be opened at a 
time, and upon their tacit promise, at least, that at the next 
meal time I should eat with one of them ; but things never adjusted 
themselves in just that way at the next meal time, and I learned 
a very valuable lesson at my first meal east of the Meuse — always 
eat your own food when in the front line. 

Breakfast over, we pulled out along the big road, passing down 
the Meuse on the east, through Lacroix, and, turning to the left, 
reached Souzey about twelve o'clock. This little town had been 
in the hands of the Boche not more than twenty-four hours before 
we reached it and the stone buildings were a pile of debris, and 
labor troops were filling up the great shell holes and opening the 
roadway so we could pass. Just beyond this town some Germans 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 63 

came out of the woods and gave themselves up. We passed 
through Dompierre and at four o'clock, reached the town of 
Deuxnouds-aux-bois, a little town situated in a deep hollow 
facing the German side, and a place that should have been well- 
nigh impregnable if properly defended. The ruins of this town 
were still smoking, so shortly had the Germans left it. Their 
departure was so unexpected and so swift that the dugouts and 
shelters and little houses they had built just beyond the town and 
under the protection of the hill were left almost as one leaves 
his house for a visit to a friend. And they had been fixed up fine 
with pianos and phonographs, and baths, and what not to make 
the soldier's life a happy one. and no doubt Fritz craved happi- 
ness as much as the rest of us. But Fritz had left his happy home 
when we went to see him and he could not be found. In this pre- 
dicament we went down the valley in the direction of Lavigney- 
ville and rested in the edge of the woods and waited for orders 
from Brigade. That night my battalion was ordered to take up 
a defensive position across the hill to the rear of Lavigneyville 
and facing the valley through which flows the little stream called 
Rupt de Creile, with Major Emory's battalion on my left and 
Major Holt's battalion in reserve. This position was taken up, 
so we were informed, because it was believed that the Boche 
would attempt a counter-ofifensive up the valleys between Lavig- 
neyville and Senonville. 

I had reconnoitered the position in the afternoon with my 
Company Commanders: Captain Sabiston ("D" Co.), Captain 
Gilmore ("A" Co.), Captain Miller ("C" Co.), and Lieutenant 
Little ("B" Co.), and had no difficuky in making my dispositions 
after daylight was down. 

I sent my Intelligence Officer, Second Lieutenant Charles R. 
Preston, with some of his outfit to make contact with the French 
troops on our front and right. He accomplished this mission 
with the same interest and intelligence that he used always in 
his work. My troops in reserve I took back along the road that 
ran through the middle of my sector, and there we lay down on 
the ground with our blankets wrapped about us, and went to 
sleep. 

The night was cold and damp and my blankets were too short 
and my feet were so numbed from the cold that I could not sleep, 
and I was really glad when a messenger brought me an order at 
one-thirty that night directing me to withdraw from the position 
and report with my battalion along the road north of Lavigney- 
ville at three o'clock. That was a short time in which to assemble 
my men, roll packs and march two kilometers, but this battalion 
distinguished itself by being the only one at the appointed place 
on time. At about four o'clock we passed out through Lamor- 
villc, that is, through what had been once a village of that name, 



64 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

but now a smoldering mass, plowed up with shells, and piled 
up with stones. The Germans had been driven out of this place 
the night before, and the place was clogged with our artillery, so 
that we had great difficulty in passing with our troops. We passed 
over the high ridge overlooking the Meuse Valley just as the sun 
came up behind us, and when we came in sight of the city of 
Lacroix, through which we had passed the day before, we knew 
that we were on our way ''out of the line." I dare say that few 
of us realized, even at that time, that we had taken part, though 
a bloodless and inconspicuous one, in the great historic St. Mihiel 
drive. But while it was bloodless, it was a short campaign that 
tested the physical and nervous endurance of the men to the 
uttermost ; two nights without sleep and two days of marching, 
and bully beef and beans and bread to eat, and the chilly, damp 
climate. I remember when we came over the ridge that looked 
down the long road leading to Lacroix in the Meuse Valley, the 
prospect was too much for some of the weary men with their 
heavy equipment, and word came forward to me that some of 
them were falling out. I halted the battalion, and assembled the 
officers in the presence of the men and ordered each company to 
place a guard at the end of its column in command of an officer 
and to arrest any man who attempted to fall out. I remember 
with special pride the manner in which the Company Com- 
manders executed this order. I was struck in particular with the 
masterly way in which Captain Sabiston handled his company. 
He made an impression of himself upon my mind for character 
and soldierly qualities which, dr.ring all my subsequent associa- 
tion with him, I never had occasion to modify except in his favor. 
Indeed, what we did on that morning seemed to impress upon the 
mind of the men the temper and character of the Command. It 
showed also that ninety per cent, of the men would stick to the 
last ditch, to the limit of physical endurance, and that ten per 
cent, only were men who would give up before that limit was 
reached, and our action that morning gave the nintey per cent, 
the opportunity they wanted to prod and shame and compel the 
ten per cent, and they did it to the queen's taste. These men who 
were iron had become fine steel, and they remained so throughout 
the war. 

About seven o'clock we reached Lacroix and sat down in the 
streets to rest. Many of the buildings were standing, some of 
them presenting indeed evidences of erstwhile splendor. I recall 
the remains of a public fountain with some inscriptions upon it 
I cannot now recall. The church, a beautiful structure of the 
19th century, was riddled with holes and most of its stained 
glass was broken. 

Continuing our march we reached the Meuse at Woimbey and 
sat down in the field by the bridge and ate some bully beef and 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 65 

hard tack and called it breakfast. We had reached the place we 
had left only a little more than twenty-four hours before, but it 
seemed more like a week than a day that we had been away. We 
had marched perhaps twenty-six kilometers, the men with heavy 
packs, and, for that matter, the officers pretty well loaded down, 
too, with pack and bag and gas mask and helmet and all the rest, 
and had not slept to speak of and nothing to eat except the cold 
canned stuflf that seemed merely to keep soul and body together. 
Indeed, it was a pretty severe little campaign considering the fact 
that we did no actual fighting. 



A GOOD MEAL 

We embussed about ten o'clock and were taken back some 
distance to a place called Chaumont-sur-Aire, and there unloaded 
about noon to await the receipt of further orders as to our desti- 
nation. I remember that I was very hungry because I had not 
eaten what you would call a real meal since we left Nancois-Ie- 
Petit, and I got hold of Captain Miller, who spoke fair French, 
and he and I started out in search of a good dinner with the 
French of the little town and had almost despaired of success 
(the eating facilities in the small French town being very poor) 
when Captain Miller saw through an open window two French 
cooks at work in what appeared to be a club and he was making 
inquiries of them about a place to eat when two French officers 
came out, curious to know what was going on, and Captain Miller 
embraced his opportunity with a grace and diplomacy it was good 
to listen to, and in a few minutes we were sitting down to one 
of the finest dinners I ever ate in my life; many courses and wine 
and everything. That dinner gave the French a place in my heart 
for all time. 

In the afternoon the trucks came for us and took us over to 
Neuville-en-Verdunoise, a town about five kilometers distant, 
where the men of "A," "B" and "D" Companies pitched tents and 
bivouacked in the orchard, and "C" Company moved into a wood 
a few hundred yards down the road. 

I doubt if any man heard "taps" that night, so sleepy and 
tired were they. 

The next day was Sunday, and a beautiful, balmy, sunny Sun- 
day morning it was. I believe if we hadn't been in the army we 
would have gone to church. That was a day of real rest. I 
remember in the afternoon I had the band come up and give my 
battalion a concert. I recall that at the end of the concert I 
had them play "La Marseillaise" and then after that the "Star- 
Spangled Banner," and I recall also how provoked and annoyed 
some of our men were at the French civilians, and soldiers, too, 



66 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

who took off their hats while the band was playing "La Mar- 
seillaise" and put them back on again when the band began to 
play the "Star-Spangled Banner." But we attributed it to igno- 
rance and paid no further attention to it, although I am confident 
that incident is sticking way back in the brain of many an Amer- 
ican soldier to this day. 

It was at Neuville-en-Verdunoise that Lieutenant Malcolm 
Corduan, my Adjutant was taken sick with the influenza and had 
to be taken to the hospital, and did not return to me for three 
weeks. I never realized how valuable, not to say indispensable, he 
was until he was gone. I had depended almost entirely upon him 
for arranging all the details of movements, and all that sort of 
thing, and his intelligence and his methodical way of handling 
things reassured me at all times. I was compelled during his 
absence to add the burden of adjutant to the already arduous 
duties of my Intelligence Officer, Lieutenant Charles R. Preston. 

I recall there was an American Aviators' Testing Ground 
somewhere in the neighborhood of Neuville-en-Verdunoise, and 
the aeroplanes came over in great numbers, so much so that wild 
rumors began to float around about America having sent over 
so many planes that we were able to send them on in such great 
fleets as to completely astound the Boche, and our men (and 
officers, too, for that matter) were greatly reassured by these 
rumors of American prowess. We learned afterwards how really 
idle and unfounded these rumors were — and how really true it 
was that the best thing for a doughboy to rely upon was the 
doughboy. 

INTO THE WOODS AGAIN 

We moved out of Neuville-en-Verdunoise at seven o'clock that 
evening (Sunday, September 15th), marching about two kilo- 
meters to the great Paris-Verdun Road, where we were to take 
French busses for an unknown destination towards the front. 
It was a bright moonlit night and the great road was as white as 
midday. It was for this reason that the French in charge of the 
convoy marched us upon the field beside the road to load the 
busses so that we could not be seen by the Boche planes. The 
French method of handling the men and the great convoy of 
nearly a hundred and fifty busses was something splendid, with 
system and method, and without hurry or excitement ; so differ- 
ent in every respect from the handling by Americans of the 
loading and movement of an American convoy of trucks where 
nothing is done by system and nothing is found as expected. 
This great convoy moved out as one great train, as if each truck 
were bound to the one ahead of it by an invisible chain and the 
conductor's car leading with the even speed of an engine. I 
rode at the head of the column with the French officer in charge* 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 67 

I could not help thinking of another great convoy that had passed 
up that same road a few years before when the French mobilized 
the busses of Paris and took a great army along the same road to 
the defense, and supply of Verdun. While musing on this bit of 
history I fell asleep, only to be awakened at the journey's end. 

Of course, I had been asleep and did not know how far we had 
come or where we were but I was ordered to take my battalion up 
to a great woods to our right. I don't know but what I should 
have gone into these woods without orders, just as naturally as 
a bird or a beast takes to the woods at night, and all the men, too, 
for that matter, such had been our forest life. At any rate we 
went into the woods about four hundred yards along a wood 
road, indistinctly outlined in the moonlight, and there I directed 
my Company Commanders to have their men make themselves as 
comfortable as possible until daylight. For my own part, I 
wrapped myself in a blanket (which my Orderly carried) and my 
long raincoat, and lay down at the foot of a great oak and went 
to sleep. I dreamed of wading through streams up to my knees 
and woke up to find that it had rained in the night and I was wet 
from my knees down. 

The kitchens came in early the next morning and everything 
was soon in shape in the woods ; companies assigned to definite 
areas, kitchens in place, battalion headquarters established under 
a great oak and all that. It never took us more than an hour to 
make ourselves at home in the woods. The one thing that both- 
ered us most was that at night we could have no light. You never 
realize how dear to the heart are the bright lights until you live 
in the woods in the dark. Besides it is very inconvenient to 
"undress" in the dark, so that undressing was limited to taking 
ofT the steel helmet which was uncomfortable to wear at night, 
and placing the gas mask under the head for a pillow. When 
you are in the woods, therefore, you go to bed with the birds, and 
get up with the birds, too, for that matter. 

We soon had a sylvan city here protected from the eyes above 
— and carried on our daily schedule of drill and all that sort of 
thing as much at ease as if we had been in Virginia in the woods, 
but lest we become feathery things and mossbacks and things of 
that sort, we varied the beastly life by nocturnal runs and marches 
in the open in the moonlight. One night we marched out on the 
big road and the men broke out into a song, which seemed very 
appropriate for the occasion: "Red Rooster To-night." 
Whether this was an indication that the bad habits of the old life 
were coming back on them or that they had lived in the woods 
so long that they had naturally acquired the song habits of their 
feathered brothers, we did not know. But for fear that it was 
the former, orders were duly and promptly given for a double- 
time hike, over hill and dale and through woods and underbrush 



68 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

to curb, as speedily as possible, any indication of a return to the 
evil ways of civilization. 

But seriously speaking, life in those woods was not unpleasant 
on the whole. There was comment upon what we lacked and all 
that, but there was appreciation of what we possessed, good health 
and a good appetite and a wholesome out-of-doors, if in the 
woods, life. I remember it was here that orders came that all 
officers' baggage should be reduced to fifty pounds. I had all the 
bedding rolls of my officers weighed, and officers came back many 
times to the scales only to have to throw out some other article, 
much as a balloon throws out ballast, to get down to the required 
minimum. I remember I had carried a mattress that far in my 
bedding roll, but I could not carry it further and it went into the 
salvage pile with a pair of rubber boots and all my shoe polish 
and such stuff. In other words, I threw away everything that 
linked me with the refinements of civilization. To prove my 
statement here is a complete list of the things I threw away, taken 
from a memorandum made at that time and kept as a souvenir : 

One pair rubber boots, 

One mattress. 

One suit of clothes (uniform). 

One pair leggings, 

One sweater, 

One comfort, 

Two suits of underwear. 

Collar box and collars. 

Two O. D. shirts, 

Five boxes of shoe polish. 

Three brushes. 

One pillow, 

Two combs. 

And, of course, we carried on the regular drills in the woods, 
beating down the grass and bushes to make parade grounds under 
the trees. We also had a problem in attack through the woods, 
simulating machine guns with bugles, after which the entire regi- 
ment was assembled under the trees on the side of the hill for a 
critique. 

Indeed, we had grown to like La Vaux Warin Bois (which 
was the imposing name of the wood, near Soully) and were sorry 
when the order came to move. 

We left these woods about nine o'clock on Friday night, Sep- 
tember 20th, the First Battalion in the rear of the regimental 
column and behind the transport. It was a long night march with 
heavy equipment ; one in civil life hardly appreciates what it means 
to carry a soldier's equipment. The soldier carries a pack on 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 69 

his back containing his blankets and underwear, extra shoes, toilet 
articles, shelter tent half and poles and pins to pitch it with, and 
his rations for two days and a number of other small articles; 
he carries his rifle and bayonet; his gas mask; his steel helmet; 
and his cartridge belt with a hundred rounds of ammunition. I 
dare say it would be a very moderate estimate to say that the 
average equipment of the soldier is from sixty to sixty-five 
pounds, and this, of course, in addition to the clothing he wears. 
And when you speak of a soldier marching with his equipment 
it is as if a man were marching with a load of 60 or 65 pounds on 
his back. And this is the way, of course, our men were equipped 
that night. 

We reached the forest near Lempire about one o'clock the 
next morning. I shall never forget how, when we passed through 
Lempire, the men of "C" Company started up that song of theirs 
by which they were known wherever they could be heard : 

Here's to good old beer. 

Drink her down, drink her down, 

Here's to good old beer, 

Drink her down, drink her down, 

Here's to good old beer 

That makes you feel so queer, 

Here's to good old beer, drink her down. 

CHORUS 

Rolling on, rolling on 

By the light of the silvery moon. 

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. 

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. 

Here's to good old beer, drink her down. 

It was the spirit that could not be broken, and it thrilled me, 
and, I think, every one else who heard them, with admiration for 
them. 

The unfortunate part of this march occurred after we reached 
the woods in which we were to bivouack. Lieutenant Allan J. 
McBride, one of my officers, had been sent ahead by the Regi- 
mental Commander to pick out the areas for the battalions, and 
with practically no assistance, I afterwards learned, he attetnpted 
to show all the battalions their areas at once and, of course, in 
so doing caused us to wait some time before showing us our posi- 
tion because we were at the end of the column, and when he did 
finally get to us he started out ahead of us in such a hurry that 
in trying to follow him I lost, for some time, some of my com- 
panies in the dark. I remember how harsh I was with him in my 
speech that night, not knowing what he was really undertaking. 
T told him afterwards how sorry I was that I had spoken so 
harshly to him, but I fear he went down to his grave feeling 



70 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

resentment in his heart towards me. Poor fellow, he was killed 
a few days afterwards. He was a fine soldier and had a sweet, 
lovable nature. He was married only a short time before he came 
overseas. 

BIVOUACKED ON A MANURE DUMP 

But to go back to our woods, we were finally shown into the 
area allotted to us. It was too dark to see what it looked like 
that night, and without further ado we lay down wrapped in a 
blanket and a raincoat to wait for daylight. I could not sleep 
because my feet were numb with cold and at the earliest signs of 
dawn I got up and stirred about to try to warm myself. By early 
daylight I could see that we had bivouacked upon a damp plot 
that was used as a manure dump from an old French barrack. 
The manure pile and area had grown over with a green, wet 
sod. It was about the worst place we had been in, and we had 
been in some pretty bad ones. After daylight we moved a little 
further down out of the manure piles and soon made ourselves at 
home again. One can sit down on a sand hill in the desert and 
after a while the sand will seem like old ground and one will feel 
"at home" there. This is certainly the way with a soldier. He 
spends a few hours with a tree, a tent and a little dirt, and he has 
made a home for which he may, and usually does, have a real 
afiFection in his heart. 

At any rate, philosophy or no philosophy, we fixed ourselves 
up as best we could and made ourselves as comfortable as possible. 
I assigned areas to the companies and ordered the Company 
Commanders to have the men pitch double tents, that is, front to 
front and buttoned together, as in this manner four men could 
sleep in each tent and could better utilize their blankets so as to 
keep warm at night. 

We established battalion headquarters in a little thatched 
framework of saplings over which we spread a tarpaulin for a 
roof and sides. 

I caused my tent to be pitched across the road from battalion 
headquarters, and Lieutenant Preston's tent was close to mine. I 
remember that Captain Pierce, the Battalion Dental Surgeon, 
shared the tent with Lieutenant Preston. Dr. Pierce was a 
bachelor from Boston, a small man about forty or more years 
of age and not in the best of health. He was not only not able 
to stand the rough life we were leading, but I fear his nerves were 
getting the best of him, too. I remember one day we had a 
demonstration of signals and one of the great rockets exploded 
in the tree just above Dr. Pierce's tent and he came out in the 
wildest excitement, running around from place to place, confident, 
I am sure, that the Boche had registered upon us. It amused 
every one beyond measure, but I felt sorry for him because I 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 71 

knew his health was not good and his nerves had gotten the best 
of him. He did not go with «s further, but was transferred back 
for duty in a hospital somewhere. He was a thorough gentleman 
and a good fellow and we missed him very much after he was 

gone. 

I remember also, while we were in the woods, that the Y. M. 
C. A. gave an entertainment in which it was announced that a 
real live American woman would take part. I think practically 
every man in the regiment went to that show, not to see the shov/ 
but to get a look once more at an American woman, the like of 
which few of the men had seen since they left the States. Unfor- 
tunately, I could not go myself because I had to attend a meeting 
of the Battalion Commanders to draw up a plan for carrying 
rations and ammunition forward in active conflict. We had this 
meeting in my headquarters, and I borrowed for the occasion 
Corporal Fackiner, the clerk of "E" Company, who was an expert 
stenographer. Major Holt and Major Emory and myself com- 
prised the board. Our recommendations were afterwards adopted 
by the Brigade Commander and the method put into practice much 
sooner than any of us expected. 

A TRIP TO DEAD MAN'S HILL 

I am pretty sure it was Sunday morning (September 22d) 
that word came that our brigade (the 160th) would go up into 
the line in a day or two to take part in a great offensive. Those 
were indeed exciting times that made the heart beat fast. These 
were not rumors, but orders, and here were the maps showing 
where we were to go over the top at the foot of Dead Man's Hill, 
our regiment to be the shock troops. The Regimental Commander 
decided that the Battalion Commanders should go up to^ the front 
at once and make a thorough reconnoissance of the line where 
we were to go over the top. Shortly after lunch, therefore, Major 
Holt, Major Emory and I started out for the front in the Col- 
onel's car. We passed, I think, through Sivry, Bethelainville and 
Montreyville and left our car in the town of Chattancourt and 
went on foot from there. It must be remembered that the road 
along which we passed was just to the left of Verdun and these 
little towns through which we passed had suffered the usual fate 
in the greatest battle, probably, in the history of the world and 
they were merely piles of stone with a wall or a roof here and 
there. From Chattancourt we walked northwest, and when on 
the ridge above the town we could see to the right front the great 
Dead Man's Hill (Le Mort Homme) where many thousand 
Frenchmen died for France, and to our left front the historic 
Hill 304 which changed hands so many times in the great battle 
of Verdun. To our front were the ruins of the little town of 



72 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

Bethincourt by the Forge's Brook in no man's land between the 
Boche and the Americans. The whole landscape was a barren 
waste with hardly a sprig of living stuff and not a living soul in 
sight. Wherever you looked the ground was pock-marked with 
shell holes. We lost no time in contemplating this spectacle 
because more important business was in hand. We descended 
at once the road leading towards Bethincourt between Dead Man's 
Hill and Hill 304 until we reached the trench system of the 
American line. After some difficulty we located an officer of one 
of the companies of the 33d Division, they holding the line, and 
he took us down in his dugout and we went over the map of all 
the positions and he explained them to us in detail. I remember 
when we came out of the dugout it was pitch dark and I had 
great difficulty in keping up with the guide. We went over the 
whole system, however, even down to and including the outpost 
system of trenches within a few hundred yards of the Boche 
line. I remember how we got out of the trenches on the outpost 
line and strained our eyes in the darkness trying to visualize the 
lay of the land and especially to see what obstacles we might be 
expected to meet in going over the top. 

We left the front line about eleven o'clock and climbed the 
long muddy hill to the Chattancourt Road. We had not heard 
a shot fired on the front — so unlike what we had expected and 
so unlike what we had been accustomed to on a "quiet" front in 
the British sector. But we were not sorry for that. I recall as 
we came back in the car how all the roads were jammed with 
artillery and ammunition and what not going to the front. There 
was no mistaking what this meant — a great battle was about to 
begin. 

We got back to the woods late in the night (or perhaps, I 
should say, early in the morning) and after a few hours' sleep 
got up to the great task of actually getting ready for the serious 
business. 

In order to better understand and remember the problems 
that confronted us on the eve of the great drive, it may be well 
to record here something of the disposition of troops intended to 
be made. We were to fight by brigades, that is, one brigade in 
the front line, the two regiments fighting side by side and one 
brigade in reserve. The sector assigned a brigade depends, of 
course, upon the strength of the enemy and ranges from one to 
three kilometers, and under unusual conditions, even greater in 
width than that. Normally, also, the Regimental Commanders 
dispose their three battalions in depth, one in the front line, one 
in support and one in reserve, so that the two brigades of the 
division would, under normal conditions, occupy only a width 
covered by two battalions. At least this was the method that was 
adopted for the great offensive. The troops were placed in the 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 73 

scheme in accordance with the rank of the Commanders. The 
160th Brigade was to be in front because General Brett was the 
senior Brigade Commander; the 320th was on the left front 
because Colonel Coshne was senior to Colonel Peyton; Major 
Holt's battalion (the 2d) was in front, Major Emory's (the 3d) 
in support, and mine (the 1st) in reserve, in accordance with the 
rank of the Battalion Commanders. After that we took our 
turns in the front line. 

Our positions in the fight having been determined upon we 
set about to get ourselves in shape to best perform our functions. 
There were things to learn about each part, just as a player learns 
his part, and there were equipment, and ammunition, and signals, 
and wire cutters, and grenades, and stretchers, and maps, and 
rations, and what not to make us fit for the great things we were 
to undertake. And there was no excitement about these prepara- 
tions, no hysterics. Men went about their work as calmly as if 
nothing unusual were about to happen. 

Orders came on Monday afternoon to be in shape to move 
out as soon as darkness came, and at the appointed hour tents had 
been struck, packs rolled, and men ready to move out when word 
came that the order had been changed and that we would move 
out the next night (24th September) at the same hour. We 
were like the traveler who at the last minute throws his things 
in his grip in time to catch the train only to find that the trainis 
many hours late. We unpacked our stufif and went to bed again, 
as if nothing unusual were to happen. 

The next day, I recall, while we were waiting for darkness to 
come so we could march (as we dare not show ourselves in the 
open in the daytime) I had Lieutenant Preston superintend mark- 
ing ofif on a number of maps we got from headquarters the limits 
and bounds of our sector in the coming ofifensive and the direc- 
tions of the compass. By this means maps were fixed up so that 
each company and platoon commander had one. Lieutenant Pres- 
ton had his S. O. S. section do this work, and, needless to say, it 
was well done. 

CONGESTED ROADS TO THE FRONT 

When darkness came, however, on the 24th of September, we 
moved out of Lempire Woods, but destined for another staging 
place before actually getting into the great drive. It was not 
only dark, it was black, so that men could not see each other in 
the road, and the road out of the woods was winding and difficult 
to follow. I remember on this occasion I used to the fullest 
extent the system of connecting files to keep in touch with the 
column ahead, using for that purpose at times as many as a 
whole platoon in addition to my runners. For this system of 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 75 

connecting files and also for finding the way with the map over 
strange and difficult country I felt indebted always without meas- 
ure to Lieutenant Preston and his Intelligence section which we 
took with us always at the head of the column. It seems easy 
now as I look back on it, but it was difficult then to take a 
thousand men over untried and unknown roads in the darkness of 
the night and always get them there and get them food and shel- 
ter. 

The moon came up about nine o'clock. I remember when we 
sat down to rest the light was shining on the crosses on a grave- 
yard to the right of us. I remember, also, as we sat there trucks 
came by us from the direction of the front and passed into the 
graveyard. The foul odor of the trucks as they passed and their 
destination and evident mission sent a thrill of horror through 
me that I never felt before or since that time, although I have 
seen many horrible sights. 

BOIS DE BORRUS 

We passed that night great lines of transports and artillery 
upon artillery bound for the front. In fact, for many kilometers 
the roads were so congested with traffic of that sort that we had 
to parallel the wagons and guns along the roads. At Fromerville 
Jerry sent over a few shells but none fell close enough to us to 
do any harm. We passed on through Fromerville and about mid- 
night reached the Bois de Borrus, a great woods not far from the 
Meuse northwest of Verdun. An officer who had been sent ahead 
by the division met us at the base of the hill and took us up the 
road into the woods and showed me the area assigned to rny 
battalion. It was late and the men wrapped themselves up m 
their blankets and went to sleep. I tried to sleep but could not 
because my feet were so cold. At the first sign of daylight I got 
up and busied myself to see that the kitchens were in place to 
get an early breakfast for the men, and incidentally to thaw my 
feet. I found the kitchens and wagons had to wait at the edge 
of the woods until the break of dawn to see how to get into the 
woods, and pretty soon they came in and the kitchens were put 
in place, and the wagons of the transport, too, and I had the men 
break branches and cover them over lest they be seen through the 
trees from above. My transport was never unduly late, and 
never lost its way no matter how difficult the road or dark the 
night. It seems almost incredible that over twenty teams and 
fifty horses should have a record like this through all the difficult 
and dangerous missions upon which the transport was engaged, 
sometimes even within range of the machine guns of the enemy, 
and always, while at the front, under the artillery fire of the 
enemy. This record is a lasting monument to the industry, the 



76 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

intelligence and the loyalty of Lieutenant W. A. Sorensen, the 
Transport Officer who kept the transport always under his per- 
sonal charge and direction. He knows, too, of the loyalty and 
bravery of the men under his command. I never spent an uneasy 
moment about my transport. 

At any rate, the cooks soon had things steaming, and the men 
began to stir, and breakfast time came. I remember, I ate break- 
fast that morning with Captain Miller at the "C" Company 
kitchen. Sergeant Dressel had a fine breakfast of beefsteak and 
hot cakes and syrup and a little bacon, too, and coffee, and I 
enjoyed it to the full. 

I remember after breakfast we explored the woods and found 
just below us on the hillside at the edge of the open ground a 
great system of dugouts and shelters, sufficient to accommodate 
several thousand men. We had bitter occasion to find a reason 
for those dugouts before we left those woods that night. 



THE MEETING BEFORE THE DRIVE 

Shortly after noon word came that there would be a meeting at 
four o'clock (I think it was) of the officers of the division down 
to and including Battalion Commanders in the quarters of the 
Brigade Commander about a kilometer distant from Borrus wood 
just outside the town of Germonville. I remember Colonel Pey- 
ton, Major Holt, Major Emory and I went in the Colonel's car. 
General Brett had very elaborate "quarters" in a protected system 
that had evidently been built by the French during the great 
battle of Verdun. I remember Lieutenant Benny Weisblat met 
us at the opening and showed us into the room on the right to 
wait for General Brett, who was busy. There was a fire in the 
room and it was very comfortable. Presently General Brett came 
in and shook hands with us all around. He said, "Peyton, I just 
wanted to have you assure me that everything is in readiness." 
Colonel Peyton replied, "Yes, Sir, we are all set." "That's all I 
wanted to hear you say," said General Brett, "and I am satisfied 
that everything is all right." 

In a few minutes we were shown into a larger room where 
the meeting was to be held. Many of the officers had already 
arrived, and pretty soon the room was filled with officers sitting 
on benches around a great table that reached from one end of 
the room to the other. General Cronkhite sat at the head of the 
table and General Brett at his right. Colonel Spaulding, the Divi- 
sion Engineer, sat at the foot of the table and I sat at his right, 
and then Major Holt, Colonel Peyton and Major O'Bear, Major 
Emory and many others. 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 77 

When we all got seated at the table there was a moment or 
two of suppressed excitement, a calm before a storm, as wc waited 
to hear what General Cronkhite was about to announce. 

"Gentlemen," he said, " 'H' hour is 5:30 to-morrow morning." 
I think every man's heart beat a little faster at that announce- 
ment ; at least mine did. It was especially annoying to have to 
listen to it beat in the silence that followed the announcement. 
That meant that we were going over the top at 5:30 the next 
morning. It was a time that we had vaguely thought of at Ft. 
Myer, we had spoken of it at Camp Lee, and had even contem- 
plated it while in training on this side of the water; but here it 
was now a real, living, throbbing thought that in less than twelve 
hours we would go under an actual barrage and bare our breasts 
to the fire of the enemy's guns and maybe the steel of his bayonet. 
Indeed this was a time to listen to the heart beat to see if it was 
really in tune for the serious business. 

General Cronkhite went over with us the question of our 
preparations ; he spoke of the extent and purpose of the offensive 
and our part in it ; and he spoke particularly about the nature of 
the barrage and the reasons for it. The big guns were to begin 
at 11:30 that night, but the small ones (that is, the division 
artillery of three and six inch pieces) were to open up only a 
short time before "H" hour so as not to give the Hun a chance 
to locate their positions. 

When he had finished he turned to General Brett and said, 
"Brett, I do not ask if you are ready, I know you are. Have 
you anything to say?" General Brett had nothing to say. 

General Cronkhite then took out his watch and said, "Gentle- 
men, I have synchronized my watch with corps. It is now four 
minutes after five." 

There was a tense silence that followed as each officer took 
out his watch and set it by the General's time. 

After that General Cronkhite said: "Gentlemen, we have 
reached the time we have all been looking for, we are about to 
engage in the most serious business ever undertaken by man, and 
no one can tell who will come out of it. Gentlemen, may God 
be with you." 

We went immediately back to regimental headquarters to make 
the final definite arrangements. As you remember, "A" Company 
had already gone out with the engineers from the wood near 
Lempire to carry foot bridges for the Forges Creek before Beth- 
incourt on the morrow, and that company was now located with 
the engineers in a woods farther ahead, waiting for darkness to 
get the bridges forward to the front. Orders came also that T 
should send one company to carry ammunition. I detached "D" 
Company for this work, and Captain Sabiston took his company 



78 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

up about seven o'clock that night. This left me only two com- 
panies in the Borrus Wood on the night before the attack: "B" 
and "C" Companies. 

From Bois de Borrus to the trenches before Bethincourt, 
where we were to jump ofif the next morning, was about ten 
kilometers, and the Regimental Commander decided we should 
leave the Bois de Borrus at 10:30 that night in order to reach 
the jumping-off place before "H" hour the next morning (Sep- 
tember 26th). 

We busied ourselves, therefore, until the time set for the 
departure, putting on the little finishing touches for the great 
ceremony of the morrow. I remember, I wanted to go over the 
lengthy orders received at the last minute, and it was very dark 
and I could not make a light so as to be seen from above, so I lit 
some candles under a tent fly that had been spread over the shafts 
of the ration cart, and went over all my orders and gave direc- 
tions. 

I remember also that in order to give all the men hot coflFee 
before they set out I had Sergeant Lambert of "B" Company 
make great boilers of coffee. I had the one company do this 
instead of each company making its own coffee because I wanted 
as little fire as possible so as not to attract the attention of the 
Boche artillery, as we had been told that the Boche had shelled 
these woods the night before. 

A HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE 

After the men had had their coft'ee — I remember I drank a 
good swig of it, too — I gave directions that the men should get in 
shape to move out of the woods. Then followed one of the most 
liorrible experiences of my whole life in the war, and one which 
I hope never to have to go through again. The Boche began to 
shell the woods. When the first one came over I was sitting under 
the canvas that had been still spread over the cart shafts. It 
fell on the up side of the woods. As I came out another one fell 
closer. I was glad it was dark because I was afraid my knees 
were shaking. I was afraid of my voice, too, and I remember I 
spoke in a loud voice so it would not tremble, and gave orders 
that Commanders should take their units to the dugouts which 
were less than a hundred yards away until the shelling was over, 
as I did not think it necessary to sacrifice any lives under the 
circumstances. Notwithstanding my precautions, some of the 
shells fell among the cooks and others who remained about the 
kitchens, killing some of them and wounding others. 

In about twenty minutes I ordered the companies to fall in on 
the road by our area preparatory to marching out of the woods. 
They got into a column of squads in perfect order, and we had 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 79 

proceeded perhaps a hundred yards along the road in the woods 
when we came on to one of the companies of the Second BattaHon 
which we were to follow that night. We were held there perhaps 
forty-five minutes while the Second Battalion ahead of us got 
in shape to move out. One cannot imagine the horrible suspense 
and experience of that wait. The Boche began to shell the woods 
again. There was no turning back now, no passing around the 
companies ahead of us, we could only wait and trust to the Grace 
of God. 

We could hear the explosion as the shell left the muzzle of 
the Boche gun, then the noise of the shell as it came toward us, 
faint at first, then louder and louder until the shell struck and 
shook the earth with its explosion. One can only feel, one cannot 
describe the horror that fills the heart and mind during this short 
interval of time. You know he is aiming the gun at you and wants 
to kill you. In your mind you see him swab out the hot barrel, 
you see him thrust in the deadly shell and place the bundle of 
explosives in the breach; you see the gunner throw all his 
weight against the trigger ; you hear the explosion like the single 
bark of a great dog in the distance, and you hear the deadly mis- 
sile singing as it comes towards you, faintly at first, then dis- 
tinctly, then louder and louder until it seems so loud that every- 
thing else has died, and then the earth shakes and the eardrums 
ring, and dirt and iron reverberate through the woods and fall 
about you. 

This is what you hear, but no man can tell what surges through 
the heart and mind as you lie with your face upon the ground 
listening to the growing sound of the hellish thing as it comes 
towards you. You do not think, sorrow only fills the heart, and 
you only hope and pray. And when the doubly-damned thing hits 
the ground, you take a breath and feel relieved, and think how 
good God has been to you again. And God was good to us that 
night — to those of us who escaped unhurt. And for the ones who 
were killed, poor fellows, some blown to fragments that could not 
be recognized, and the men who were hurt, we said a prayer in 
our hearts. 

Such was my experience and the experience of my men that 
night in the Bois de Borrus, but their conduct was fine. I think, 
indeed, their conduct was the more splendid because they knew 
they were not free to shift for themselves and find shelter, but 
must obey orders, and obey they did in the spirit of fine soldiers 
to the last man. After that experience I knew that men like 
these would never turn back, and they never did. 



80 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 



CHAPTER VI 



OFF FOR THE GREAT BATTLE 

At length the battahon ahead of us moved out, and we fol- 
lowed them. We got out of the woods in due time and started 
on our journey to the front. The men did not have their heavy 
packs, with their blankets and all that, because we were stripped 
for action, so to speak. But the men were loaded down with their 
two days' rations, with ammunition and grenades and all the rest, 
and the night was dark and cloudy, but it was a relief to get in 
the open again. 

I remember when we sat down to rest beside the road about 
a kilometer from the woods we could still hear the Boche shells 
breaking behind us. It was here that I lost one of my gloves in 
the dark and could not find it again, and I took this as an ill-omen, 
possessing, with all mankind, a little superstition, and it worried 
me. But we moved on, mostly over new roads that had been 
made for the war and were cut up with heavy wheels and full of 
mud and rough places. The great shell holes told us that the 
Boche knew the road, too, and we were grateful for the darkness 
that hid us from his view. 

I remember where we turned off the Chattancourt Road we 
passed the long line of wagons in our train taking up ammunition 
and supplies to the front. There was some confusion as to the 
route to take, but I knew that my transport officer would find the 
way, and I was not disappointed in this because he reached the 
regimental dump in good time the next morning. 

I cannot now tell the course we took after we had passed ofif 
that road because it is not shown on the map, but we passed down 
the little "trench" railroad that had been built no doubt during 
the defense of Verdun and came to the base of Dead Man's Hill 
on the site where the regimental headquarters were to be estab- 
lished. It was here, I remember, Major Emory, who had pre- 
ceded his battalion, for what reason I do not know, came up to 
me, as I passed, in a state of great disappointment because he 
thought it was his battalion that was coming up, and inquired of 
me where his men were. I could not tell him. He went with me 
quite a way, talking, and then went back to wait for his battalion, 
which I understood came up afterwards and in time. 

We left the little railroad at the place I have mentioned and 
turned to the left, passing across the ravine to the base of Hill 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 81 

304 and then around the southeast of it and across the ravine 
called the Ravine Hayette and on to a path leading along the west 
side of Dead Man's Hill. I remember as we picked our way 
along this path in the darkness the Boche was shelling the road 
behind us. In front of Bethincourt I put my men in two trenches 
that flanked the pathway on the left, one in front of the other, 
and waited for the coming of the dawn and the beginning of the 
great oflfensive. Dead Man's Hill was on our right and Hill 304 
was on our left, their outlines looming grimly in the flashes of 
the guns. It was a fit setting for the opening scene of the great 
drama. 

WAITING FOR THE HOUR 

We had two hours to wait. It was cold and damp, and I 
remember I sat down in the shallow trench and hugged the ground 
to keep from shivering. We were tired to the very bone, but we 
could not sleep. Indeed, who wanted to sleep in such a scene as 
that. It cannot be described, it can only be felt. The big guns 
behind us were booming and lighting up the sky with their 
flashes, and the Boche was answering back, and we could hear the 
great missiles of death singing over our heads in a multitude of 
monotones. Just before dawn the lesser guns opened up like the 
barking of many dogs, and then the machine guns began to pop 
and rattle and sputter, and the whole world was filled as if with 
the noise of great machinery grinding out death. It was grand, 
it was beautiful, it was magnificent. There was no fear, there 
was exhilaration. One must get up, one must act, one must go 
forward and get into the fray. But one must wait as we waited 
for the appointed time. 

I remember the Machine Gun Company of our regiment. 
Lieutenant Vermule commanding, reported to me. I told him to 
find shelter for his men in the trenches and wait for further 
orders. 

The attack was to proceed by a regular schedule. The bar- 
rage, which was laid down in front of Bethincourt, was to creep 
forward at the rate of one hundred meters every four minutes 
imtil it reached the second position where it was to remain down 
thirty minutes and then creep forward. The front line battalion, 
under command of Major Holt, was to follow the creeping bar- 
rage at a safe distance, but close enough to prevent the Boche 
from coming out of his shelter after the passage of the barrage 
and before the arrival of our troops. The support battalion under 
command of Major Emory was to follow the leading battalion at 
about five hundred yards. I was to follow the support battalion 
at eight hundred yards. One of my platoons, under command of 
Lieutenant Worboy, preceded me for the purpose of mopping up 



82 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

the trenches north of Bethincourt in the second German Hne of 
defense. 

I remember I gave directions to the Company Commanders 
of the formation and course of the next move and stood with my 
watch in my hand waiting for the time to move out. 

OVER THE TOP 

At the appointed time we moved out in artillery formation 
through the heavy fog and boggy fields and wire entanglements 
in the direction of Bethincourt. 

Just at the Forges Brook that runs before the town three of 
the platoons of "D" Company and some of the men of "A" Com- 
pany that had gone out, as you remember, the night before, to 
place the bridges across the brook joined me. We crossed the 
stream on the footbridges that had been laid and passed into the 
town. I remember that Lieutenant Preston and I were in the 
lead, he with a map and I with a compass, endeavoring to find 
the way through the fog and over the grown up debris of the 
town. 

We came to the north edge of the town and turned to the left 
upon what was shown upon the map to be a road but what was 
now a mere path. This area had been no man's land since the 
great battle of Verdun and weeds and grass had overgrown the 
streets and roads, and it was no easy task to find the way. At 
length, with the use of map and compass we picked the right 
course and started out. There seemed to be a lull after the great 
storm and hardly a shot was heard, except now and then a stray 
bullet hit the dirt around us. I remember one struck a piece of 
corrugated iron close to my side. On the edge of town we encoun- 
tered fifty or sixty German prisoners, Prussians and Bavarians 
for the most part, coming towards us holding up their hands. 
They took o& their hats and seemed to be very happy when T 
told them in what little German I knew to pass on to the rear. I 
learned afterwards that these prisoners were taken by Lieutenant 
Worboy's platoon from the dugouts beyond us. 

We went forward with the road as our guide and I sent out 
runners to maintain contact with the troops ahead. Our course 
was due magnetic north. We reached the great system of shelters 
in the ridge east of Cuisy, from which the German prisoners had 
been taken. It was a smoldering ruin battered to pieces by our 
artillery. We passed up the ravine to the right of this system 
and halted in the hollow to await information of the troops ahead. 
While we were here, I remember, the fog and mist seemed to 
vanish as if by magic and the sun came out. I remember, also, 
that a Boche plane came over, flying low and firing at my troops 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 83 

with his automatic rifles. My rifles and machine guns drove him 
off. 

Contact having been gained with the troops ahead we moved 
straight over the ridge to the north. As I passed over the ridge, 
Lieutenant Preston and my Orderly were with me in the lead, and 
Oil the crest of the ridge I saw one of my old sergeants of "E" 
Company, Sergeant Reinhardt, dead upon the ground. He was 
on his hands and knees, as if in the act of springing forward, and 
his eyes were partly open, and I thought that he had been shot 
through the heart and killed instantly, but Lieutenant Martin told 
me afterwards that he was shot through the groin and died a 
horrible death. 

From this ridge, also, I could see the troops ahead of us on 
the ridge along the Gercourt-Septsarges Road, working around 
the left flank of the Bois de Sachet. We could also see the smoke 
of the thermite shells bursting in the woods in the sector on our 
right. We passed down into the valley in front of us and halted 
and I went forward to see the situation, and watched from the 
crest of the ridge the movement of the troops on the left of the 
woods. 

A LATE BREAKFAST 

I remember, also, the men were exhausted and hungry (no 
man had eaten breakfast that morning) and they rested in the 
valley in the sunlight and munched their hardtack and ate bully 
beef with a relish. It was about eleven o'clock. At length the 
troops in front of us passed to the left of the woods and went 
forward, and as I was not certain that any troops had passed 
through the woods south of the Septsarges Road, I sent for Lieu- 
tenant Russell, who was commanding "D" Company in the absence 
of Captain Sabiston, and told him to comb the woods, and pass on 
to the north edge and protect my right flank as we passed. About 
sixty prisoners were captured in these woods and placed under 
guard. In the mean time Captain Sabiston, who had been sent 
out with the engineers the night before, came up from the right 
and I sent him with a detachment into the woods to get these 
prisoners. He brought them out and I sent them to the rear. I 
then advanced with my command to the ridge south of the road 
and halted them and went forward to see Major Holt, who had 
his headquarters in a shell hole near the road. This was about 
twelve o'clock. 

I talked with Major Holt for some time. He said that word 
had come that there was a wide gap between his left flank and 
the right flank of the 4th Division which was on the sector to the 
left of us, and asked me to send him troops to All in that gap and 
maintain contact. I sent him a part of "A" Company which had 



84 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

returned from the engineering detail and, I think, all of "C" Com- 
pany, under the command of Captain Miller. These troops did 
not return to me during the action but remained in the front line 
and engaged in some of the hardest fighting, suffering many cas- 
ualties. Major Holt said also that he was meeting stubborn resist- 
ance on his right center and asked for troops to reinforce "H" 
Company. I sent him, I think, one platoon of "A" Company and 
the two platoons of "D" Company that were under command of 
Lieutenant Russell at the north edge of the woods where I had 
stationed them as I mentioned before, information having reached 
me that my right flank was clear. These troops also remained in 
the front line during the entire fight with great credit to them- 
selves. 

I then returned to my troops who were a few hundred yards 
away and moved them over the brow of the hill along the "trench" 
railroad that passed along the valley, as the Boche had gotten 
information of our location by planes that were flying over us 
and had begun to shell us with his artillery. I spent the better 
part of the afternoon in going backwards and forwards from 
my troops to Major Holt and waiting such time as might be 
necessary to move forward. 

For the purpose of historical accuracy, I locate Major Holt's 
headquarters about 6188, and my troops at from 6186 to 6486 on 
the Cuisy 1-10,000 map No. 212, Europe Des Carrevas de Tin 

As I said, we spent the entire afternoon in this location because 
the front line troops seemed then unable to make a further per- 
manent advance on that afternoon. I recall that the Boche put 
over a great number of shells in the area that we occupied, and 
Boche planes in great numbers came over, some of them obser- 
vation planes firing their automatic rifles as they came, and others 
bombing planes. I remember especially a plane that dropped a 
bomb on the little railroad track within a few feet of my two 
medical officers, but it was a dud. One of my doctors was 
so upset and his nerves so shattered that he had to be sent to the 
hospital a few days later. 

OUTPOSTING FOR THE NIGHT 

Toward evening, it appearing that it would be impossible to 
advance further that night, we determined to outpost the position 
and wait for the morrow. I then established a line of defense 
along the general line of the Cuisy-Gercourt Road and put my 
men in such shelter as could be found in the piece of woods from 
which we had taken the sixty prisoners, and Major Holt and 
Major Emory and I established our headquarters in a dugout in 
the edge of the same woods. 

In making my reconnaissance for the purpose of establishing 
the outposts for the night I went up on top of the ridge beyond 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 85 

the road four or five hundred yards towards the front and I 
saw a number of German howitzers that had been put out of 
action by our artillery. I was informed by those who claimed to 
know, perhaps the wish being father to the thought, that these 
were the guns that had raised such havoc with us when we were 
in the Bois de Borrus on the night before. If that was so the 
Lord was good to us again. 

That was not an unpleasant night that we spent in the little 
dugout in the edge of the woods. We talked over the events of 
the day and made plans for the morrow. Besides, this place in 
which the anxious Boche had slept the night before, was not an 
unpleasant place to be. There was no occasion to woo sleep, 
sleep was at a premium that night. It was decided that one of the 
Battalion Commanders should be on duty at all times during the 
night, and Major Holt, Major Emory and I drew turns for the two 
hours up. Major Emory drew the first, Major Holt the second 
and I the third. I took my four hours' sleep in a little alcove on a 
chicken-wire cot with my gas mask under my head. Major Holt 
woke me to relieve him at two o'clock in the morning. I am sure 
that from two to four I fudged a little but there was no one to 
watch me and no harm came of it. 

AT IT AGAIN 

I remember at the earliest sign of dawn we all began to stir 
and get ready again for the grim business of the day. I shall 
never forget also that my Orderly had had the foresight to put 
coffee in his condiment can, and, with the assistance of a little 
can of solidified alcohol which Lieutenant Leyburn contributed 
to the party, he made strong coffee, which washed down the bully 
beef and hardtack and gave new life to my nerves. 

From the information then at hand it appeared that on the 
afternoon before the front line troops had reached the south edge 
of the Bois de Dannevaux, but on account of the pressure of the 
enemy, had been compelled to retire to the Bois de Septsarges, 
where they took up a position for the night, and it was determined 
that they would advance from that position at the earliest oppor- 
tunity. I determined to take my troops immediately in their rear 
in order to render them every possible assistance in case of need. 
For this purpose I got my troops together and in a drizzling rain, 
passing in artillery formation around the east base of Hill 253 
and through the Bois D'En'Dela, stationed them at the north edge 
of the latter woods, just across the ravine south of the Bois de 
Septsarges. We had no sooner reached the latter place than the 
Boche began to shell us with his heavy artillery. My headquar- 
ters were in an old kitchen evidently occupied by the men who 
had served the Boche guns which had been located at this place. 



86 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

From here I could see our troops working around the edge of the 
Bois de Septsarges and I sent out scouts to the front and flanks 
to keep me informed of the situation. We remained in this posi- 
tion the better part of the day. I remember in the early after- 
noon, not having received information of an advance ahead, I 
went forward myself with Captain Sabiston and my Orderly to 
see what the situation was. I found the Second and Third Bat- 
talions, together with those of my troops who were with them, 
forming to make an attack out of the Bois de Septsarges, down 
through the valley, and into the Bois de Donnevoux, beyond. We 
went to the east edge of the woods on the brow of the hill and 
watched the formation as it passed across the valley. It was 
beautiful. The formation was perfect. I cannot express the 
exhilaration I felt as I watched the straight, thin lines as they 
marched out of the woods and across that broad open space. 
From what they had experienced the night before I expected the 
Boche machine guns to open any minute from the positions in the 
valley and from the edge of Dannevoux Wood, but not a shot 
was fired. The advance having proceeded so smoothly I decided 
that the Boche had withdrawn from the Donnevoux Wood and, 
in order to keep my troops in close touch with them, I sent my 
Orderly back with a message directing my Commanders to move 
forward to the Bois de Septsarges and take position there. My 
Orderly had not left me fifteen minutes when our own artillery 
began to drop shells behind me and in front of my troops. At 
least thirty of these shells were dropped. I determined to return 
to my troops in order to prevent them from getting in the fire of 
our own artillery, and made a detour to the right around the shell- 
swept area for that purpose. Captain Sabiston was with me. I 
recall as we crossed the Donnevoux-Septsarges Road we came 
upon a Boche machine gun crew of four men who had been killed. 
I remember one man had four bullets through his face and another 
was shot in the stomach, the former, having evidently died 
instantly, was lying on his right side and the other, who had 
evidently lingered some time, had crawled up and put his arms 
around him. Who knows but what they might have been bud- 
dies? Not fifty yards from that there were four Boche who had 
been killed with one shell. Further on a shell had struck a wagon, 
killing the two horses and the driver, and just before I reached 
my troops I came upon a great German truck : I sent one of my 
men to run it, but it would not work. 

Our own shells having ceased to fall upon the area above 
mentioned, I took my troops over the same course that I had 
traveled around the east edge of the Bois de Septsarges. I remem- 
ber we passed two wounded Boche lying in a shell hole, one a 
middle-aged man and the other a boy about nineteen, the latter 
had had a part of his foot torn away by a shell. I do not know 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 



87 



how the other had been injured. The boy was eating a piece of 
Schwarzbrot. Upon reaching the crest of the hill, it appearing 
that the advance ahead was moving smoothly, I decided to move 
on with my men to a sheltered hedge, just south of the Bois de 
Donnevoux. Here I halted them and went forward myself to 
Major Holt who was in the Bois de Donnevoux. I had great 
difficulty in locating him but finally found him with his head- 
quarters in a little sheltered place under a great oak tree. It 
was then about sundown. I talked with him at some length and 
he told me that he was meeting sturdy opposition from the high 
ground in the Bois de Donnevoux to which the Boche had retired 
and fortified himself with many machine guns. It was determined 
that I should establish a second line of defense and I returned to 
my troops and took them to the north edge of the Bois de Sept- 
sarges, that being the logical place selected for such a purpose. 
While reconnoitering the woods for this purpose information 
came to me that the two wounded Boche in the shell hole were 
likely to die from want of food and from their wounds. I sent 
them food and water and a first-aid man to dress their wounds. 
The reconnaissance having been made I established a line of 
defense in front of the ridge of the Bois de Septsarges with my 
machine guns and my infantry. This being done I made my head- 
quarters in a partially constructed dugout in the north edge of the 
woods. 

A PLEASANT LITTLE CUBBY HOLE 

It was a pleasant little cubby hole to look back on. There was 
hardly room to turn around. I remember, the Boche shelled the 
woods all that night but fortune was with us and our casualties 
were very light. I remember that I established the first-aid station 
in a dugout just below me and my doctor worked all night with the 
wounded. Throughout the night I kept in touch with Major Holt. 
That night I sent for rations to come up and they were brought 
to the south edge of the woods across the ridge from us. I 
detailed Lieutenant Supple to superintend taking the rations to 
the troops in the front line. I also detailed Lieutenant Smith to 
bring up ammunition and take it forward. 

On the morrow, not having received satisfactory information 
from the front, I went forward to see Major Holt. He had 
changed his headquarters and was now located in a little house 
built by the Germans. The Boche was now shelling the woods. 
I asked him if I could be of any assistance. He told me to send 
him such assistance as I could. I went back and sent him Captain 
Sabiston in command of the remainder of "D" Company and, I 
think, the remainder of "A" Company. That afternoon, about 
three o'clock, I went forward again to see Major Holt, and as I 
passed across the valley I remember the Boche was shelling it 



88 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

alternating gas with high explosive shells. I remember how I 
played hide and seek with them, but it was not like the game I 
used to play when I was a boy. I found Major Holt munching a 
bit of hard bread and eating out of a can, no doubt of beans. It 
appeared that the Boche had withdrawn to a sheltered ridge on 
the Laimont Hill and fortified it with a great number of machine 
guns, and attempts were being made to take the place. There was 
no assistance that I could render him without making my position 
defenseless and I went back to my headquarters, reaching the 
edge of the woods and the slopes to the valley in time to play hide 
and seek again with the Boche shells. It was now well-nigh dusk. 

I remember about dark a battalion from the 317th Infantry 
came up with orders to take a position to my left where it was 
feared the Boche would make a counter attack during the night. 
I went with Major Clifford and showed him the roads and the 
location for his troops. I remember as we passed along the nar- 
row wood roads through the valley to my left the mud was up 
above my shoetops and the wet bushes and tlie falling rain did 
not add to the inviting situation for the night, besides, the Boche 
was shelling the place, adding hell to discomfort. Indeed, hell 
could not be much worse than the place those brave Virginia boys 
stayed in that night, and I left them with real pity in my heart. 

Relief came the next morning. It was the 30th Division, com- 
posed of Illinois troops. I remember as we passed back through 
the Bois de Septsarges the nauseating odor of shell gas added to 
the sight of dead and mangled bodies would have made one sick 
under ordinary conditions. As we passed out of the woods we 
crossed an area that had been saturated with gas from Boche 
shells not long before and many of us got a whiff or two too much. 
I remember also as we came down the slope we passed a dead 
Boche lying on his back on the ground with his hands stretched 
over his head. He had died on his face and had been turned over 
after he was stiff. The terror on his face was horrible to look at. 
Some one had derisively placed a helmet on his head. I remem- 
ber the soldiers kicked him and cursed him as they passed. Such 
are the horrors of war. 

I assembled my battalion on a field near the dugout which had 
been used by Major Holt, Major Emor}' and myself the first night, 
and which had since been adopted as regimental headquarters, 
and went in to get my orders for moving out. I was directed to 
proceed at once along the Gercourt-Cuisy Road and, passing 
through the latter town, halt in the Bois de Montfaucon. I 
moved out, I dare say, about ten o'clock in the morning. I remem- 
ber the men were tired and hungry and wet and all that sort of 
thing, but the change was to their liking and there was no mis- 
taking the fact that they were glad to be going away from the 
hell that they had been in for the past three days. The road to 



EXPERIENCES OF TPIE GREAT WAR 89 

Cuisy was lined with artillery with their muzzles over the roadway 
and in many places we had to go into the fields to pass around 
them to keep from being blown to pieces by our own guns. 

CUISY 

As I reached the road leading down the hill into Cuisy Lieu- 
tenant Ray Miller, of brigade headquarters, came up from the 
opposite direction on horseback and said that the orders had been 
suddenly changed, that we would halt in some protection around 
Cuisy. I sent back word to that effect to the rest of the regiment. 
As we were going down the hill into Cuisy I remember a Boche 
plane came over, flying very low and firing his automatic rifle as 
he came. My men opened fire on him but he got away, apparently 
unhurt. He was evidently looking for the French artillery which 
was camouflaged along the road, and I remember how the French 
gunners beat a hasty retreat to their cover to prevent having their 
pictures taken. We then proceeded down through the town of 
Cuisy and up the ridge to the south of it. Here the Brigade 
Adjutant came up and said that it was the General's plan that 
the brigade should occupy the trench systems along the parallel 
ridges, one in front of Cuisy, one in back of it, and the other in 
back of that, the 320th on the right and the 319th on the left. I 
hastily drew up a plan in accordance with this direction and sent 
it to the other battalions of this regiment and to the other regi- 
ment. Ultimately, however, the ridge in front of Cuisy was under 
such constant and heavy shell fire that the battalions located there 
had to move back to the ridge back of Cuisy. 

None of us then, of course, knew why we had suddenly been 
halted at Cuisy, but it afterwards developed that we would be 
held here a few days in reserve and then be put back into another 
push. The halt here, however, gave us time to breathe and to 
make some adjustments and to take stock of ourselves, as it were. 

I placed my battalion in the trenches on the right just back of 
Cuisy, and my headquarters for the first night were on the side of 
the hill between my troops and Cuisy in a sheltered place on the 
side of the road. From the ridge where my troops were located 
the country round about spread out in a panoramic view. Indeed, 
the terrain thereabout presented some aspects of unusual interest, 
both from tactical and historical points of view. To the north- 
west, about a mile and a half distant, standing in its majestic deso- 
lation on a bold summit, was the historic town of Montfaucon. 
which had been such a formidable stumblingblock in the way of 
the 79th Division a few days before. It was from a high tower 
in this town that the German Crown Prince is said to have 
watched, with the aid of powerful glasses, the great battle of 
Verdun. A few miles to the southeast was Bethincourt and the 



90 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

famous Dead Man's Hill, where we had jumped oflf a few days 
before in the sector to our right. Just in front of us in the valley, 
not more than a few hundred yards away, were the walls of the 
little town of Cuisy, battered to pieces by the German guns search- 
ing for the French artillery that lined the slope just beyond the 
town. Indeed, the Germans never ceased to shell the town and 
the area thereabout while we were there. I remember, there was 
a field hospital, all under canvas, just outside the town, that caught 
so many of the Boche shells that it had to move. And I shall 
never forget the load after load of wounded that were taken out 
of it and hurried past us to a safer place. 

The terrain around Cuisy, and as far as the eye could see for 
that matter, was a series of parallel ridges absolutely devoid of 
trees or of the habitations of man. The whole country presented 
the aspect of having been especially fashioned by some devilish 
hand for the special purpose of fighting, man against man, and the 
appearance was heightened by the fact that every ridge was fur- 
rowed and seamed on its crest and forward slope by a network of 
trenches, and the valleys and slopes were massed with wire entan- 
glements that had been battered to pieces in the fighting that had 
taken place a few days before. Indeed, one was compelled to 
admire the splendid valor of the troops of the 4th Division who 
took that area. Their toll in dead and wounded must have been 
terrific, although there was no way we could tell, because the 
battle field had been policed up before we reached the place. 

On the morrow (which was September 30th) at the special 
direction of the Regimental Commander, I moved my headquar- 
ters back on to the ridge behind my troops into a dugout adjacent 
to the regimental headquarters. From my new headquarters to the 
crest in front of me the valley was literally filled with troops and 
horses and wagons, and in this area also all the kitchens were set 
up. At meal time the moving men resembled a restless swarm 
of human flies that blackened the valley and the hillside. I often 
thought to myself, and many times remarked, that nothing but 
the Providence of God could save them from destruction by the 
Boche shells that were constantly falling in that area. I never 
went to my meals, down the slope and across the valley to where 
my mess cart was located, that I did not feel that if I should 
become a casual while in that act that I should be sacrificing my 
life to my appetite. But whatever the danger, in such circum- 
stances, one must go about his daily work as if there were no 
danger at all. Such are the ideals of warfare. Many a man has 
lost his life doing some trivial unimportant thing — perhaps from 
interest, perhaps from mere personal curiosity — which he would 
never think of doing in the face of similar danger, except in war 
times. 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 91 

A BATTLE IN THE AIR 

This valley was also lined with six-inch howitzers that never 
ceased to fire day and night. The fire of these guns was observed 
and directed by an observer in a balloon suspended high in the 
air to the right of the guns. The Boche planes were constantly 
trying to destroy the balloon and thus put out the eyes of the big 
guns. His first two trials were a failure, although the shots were 
well enough directed to compel the observer to take to his para- 
chute and jump to the ground, a distance of perhaps two hundred 
meters. The third time the Boche came after the balloon the plane 
dived out of a cloud that hung rather low that day and heading 
with his nose straight to the balloon, opened fire with his machine 
gim, using incendiary bullets, the blue traces of which could be 
plainly seen going into the gas bag of the balloon. The observer 
jumped with his parachute and the balloon had gone up in smoke 
before he reached the ground. It was a beautiful and a thrilling 
sight. It was a drama and a tragedy in real life with 10,000 spec- 
tators looking on. Of course our machine guns, and our riflemen, 
too, for that matter, opened fire on the Boche plane, sending 
thousands of shots in his direction, but he got away apparently 
unharmed and no doubt rejoicing at his quarry. I admired that 
Boche extravagantly, and so did many others who saw that heroic 
act, and I believe that if he had fallen into our hands we would 
have treated him as a real hero. Such is the sporting instinct of 
the American soldier. 

My own dugout was a beastly place — just a subterranean pas- 
sage with steps descending at right angles to it at each end, thus 
giving free passage to the cold damp air that never ceased to pass 
through that place and keep it cold and damp. I never stayed in 
the place except when I had no other place to go, and when I did 
stay in it I kept several candles burning day and night to cheer it 
up a bit, and burned solidified alcohol ("canned heat"), of which 
the Gemians left us a plenty, to keep the feet warm. There were 
two double-deck chicken-wire cots that practically filled up the 
passage way, leaving hardly enough room to squeeze by. At one 
end at the bottom of the steps, there was a slight set-ofiF that was 
piled up with German ammunition, which I had removed, making 
place for a small table. It was here I had my "office." Lieuten- 
ant Preston, Sergeant Major Jackson, Sergeant Baylor of the 
Intelligence Section and my Orderly shared the place with me. 

I recall an incident that caused me some excitement shortly 
after I moved into this dugout. I felt in my left hip pocket for my 
pocketbook and it was gone, and with it 1,800 francs in cash and 
checks, practically all my ready, worldly cash. My first thought 
was that it had slipped out of my pocket while I was asleep in 
one of the dugouts at the front, as I could not recall where I had 



92 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

had my pocketbook out last. I sent my Orderly out to go into the 
dugouts where I had slept and see if he could get any trace of it. 
He had the good judgment, however, to first go by and see the 
men whom we had left with the mess cart in Bois de Burros on 
the night we left the place. Sure enough. Bianco, one the Bat- 
talion Cooks, had the pocketbook in his pocket. He reported to 
me in a few minutes and described in his broken, Italian way how 
he had found it under the cart shafts at Bois de Borrus on the 
morning after the shelling. He said : "Next mornin' everything 
shot to hell. I pick up pocketbook. I say, 'No good!' I throw 
away. Somebody say, 'No, keep.' I keep. Put my pock'. Here 
'tis." Sure enough, there was my pocketbook with the 1,800 
francs in it. I had dropped it when I took out my papers under 
the shelter-half over the cart shafts on the night we left the Bois 
de Borrus and had not missed it for nearly a week. In war there 
are things more absorbing even than one's money. 

Night time was the most unpleasant time of all. I remember 
many times I cussed the short-legged Dutchmen for building cots 
no more than five feet ten inches long. I found this attitude of 
mind growing strongly upon me when I stretched out, as men 
will sometimes do to get the kinks out of the joints, and the cold 
air numbed my feet through a pair of stout shoes and heavy wool 
socks. But the nights were not monotonous, as we never failed to 
get the alarm "Gas" two or three times and have to put on those 
beastly muzzles called gas masks and lie awake breathing like a 
walrus for fifteen or twenty minutes at a time until the gas alarm 
was found to be false or the gas cloud had passed. 

In the daytime, however, we set to work adjusting and reor- 
ganizing the companies, selecting and promoting Non-Commis- 
sioned Officers, re-equipping the men, and taking stock of our 
losses. 

CASUALTIES 

The matter of re-equipping the men and readjusting the squads 
and platoons was simple, but taking stock of ourselves to find out 
the losses and classifying them as killed, wounded or missing was 
no easy matter, as few, if any, daily records were kept during the 
conflict, and the losses had to be ascertained and classified by dint 
of much investigation. It was finally ascertained that from Sep- 
tember 25th to October 4th we had sufifered the following cas- 
ualties in officers and men : 

KILLED IN ACTION 

Company "B" 

Private William H. Lindsay (Sept. 26th). 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 93 

Company "C" 

Second Lieutenant Allan J. McBride (Sept. 28th). 

Sergeant James M. Keady (Sept. 28th). 

Private, first class, Xavier J. Boltz (Sept. 27th). 

Privates— Martin Brink (Sept. 28th), Matthew Colwes (Sept. 29th), 
Joseph P. Finn (Sept. 29th), Raymond L. Hamlin (Sept. 28th), William 
A. Hoehn (Sept. 27th), William D. Holcolm (Sept. 29th), Joe Janors 
(Sept. 29th), Andrew Liep (Sept. 28th), Emidie Orlando (Sept. 29lh), 
George S. Plummer (Sept. 29th) and John Pointon (Sept. 29th). 

Company "D" 

Private, first class, Joseph Poniatowski (Sept. 28th). 
Private Stanley Ratka (Sept. 28th). 

DIED OF WOUNDS RECEIVED IN ACTION 
"B" Company 

Corporals — Robert H. Davidson (Sept. 28th )t and Thomas Farley 
(Sept. 26th). 

"C" Company 

Corporals — William R. Kling (Sept. 28th) and Clarence E. Walther 
(Sept. 29th). 

Privates — Carl J. Carlson (Sept. 29th) and John Courtwright (Sept. 
29th). 

MISSING IN ACTION 

Company "C" 

Private Archille Pardini (Sept. 29th). 

Company "D" 
Corporal Anthony Broestel (Sept. 28th). 

320th Infantry M. G. Company 
Private William J. Boylen (Sept. 27th). 

WOUNDED IN ACTION 

Battalion Headquarters 

Private Charles E. Reams (Sept. 30th).* 

Company "A" 

Sergeant Frank E. McNulty (Sept. 28th). 

Corporal Wilkes H. Glaus (Sept. 28lh). 

Bugler John A. M. Errett (Sept. 28th). 

Privates, first class — Paul B. (Srimminger (Sept. 28th), and Harry L. 
Meyer (Sept. 28th). 

Privates— Edwin I. Black (Sept. 28th), Joe Cignetti (Sept. 26th), 
Albert Hornstron (Sept. 28th), Lorenzo Loperfito (Sept. 26th), Joseph 
A. Mallan (Sept. 26th), Anatonas Martusas (Sept. 27th), Gabriel Motsney 
(Sept. 26th), James E. Stewart (Sept. 27th) and Vito Tenaglio (Sept. 
28th). 

* Reported on this date suffering from the effects of gas come in con- 
tact with during the operations September 26-29, 1918. 
t The date after each name is the date of wound. 



94 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

Company "B" 

Sergeant Frank Czarniewski (Sept. 29th). 

Corporals— Reed A. Anderson (Oct. 1st),* Laughlin Bell (Sept. 25th), 
Joseph Frew (Sept. 30th),* Clarence P. Harrington (Sept. 26th), Neils E. 
Nielsen (Sept. 28th) and Norman A. Robinson (Sept. 28th). 

Cook — Louis Laufer, Jr. (Sept. 25th). 

Private, first class, Grover C. Scott (Sept. 25th). 

Privates — Joseph A. Connelly (Sept. 28th), Carl F. Fischer (Sept. 
27th), Albert Hoar (Sept. 29th), Alex Karnock (Sept. 28th), Bronik W. 
Kocinsky (Sept. 27th), Samuel Lorento (Sept. 27th), Charles Marcisco 
(Oct. 2d),* Francis P. Meehan (Sept. 28th), Robert McKnight (Oct. 
1st),* Frank Metz (Sept. 26th), Ray Mosby (Sept. 28th), Clyde G. Moul 
(Sept. 25th), John F. Nebraska (Sept. 30th), Hyacinthe Pianalto (Sept. 
27th), George E. Rhome (Oct. 2d),* John S. Stewart (Oct. 2d)* and 
Albert R. Stringert (Sept. 28th). 

Company "C" 

Corporals — Chester R. Fox (Sept. 27th), Charles McFerron (Sept. 
29th), William R. Matthews (Sept. 29th), Harvey P. Townsend (Sept. 
29th), and Charles J. Tribby (Sept. 28th). 

Mechanic Frank J. Helwick (Sept. 28th). 

Privates, first class — Francis J. DufFy (Sept. 28th), John J. Flaherty 
(Sept. 29th), Frank J. Gapinski (Sept. 29th) and Joseph Martin (Sept. 
29th). 

Privates— Charles Albright (Sept. 28th), Edward J. Becker (Sept. 
27th), Walter E. Cochrane (Sept. 29th), Joe Drillock (Sept. 28th), 
Martin E. Hill (Sept. 29th), Henry R. Harmeyer (Sept. 29th), Major D. 
Holby (Sept. 28th), Earl Long (Sept. 29th), Joseph Paley (Sept. 29th), 
Charles Perbach (Sept. 28th), Vittorio Pernazzo (Sept. 28th), Percy 
Pinch (Sept. 28th), Thomas Price (Sept. 28th), Dominick Quintilianti 
(Sept. 29th), August Roos (Sept. 28th), Frank Scietto (Sept. 28th), Mar- 
tin Stilcesky (Sept. 28th) and Frank Totino (Sept. 29th). 

Company "D" 

Sergeants — George H. Hunter (Sept. 28th), Albert S. Mattern (Sept. 
29th) and John P. Wallbaum (Sept. 27th). 

Corporals— George W. McFarland (Sept. 28th) and Izydor Szarmach 
(Sept. 27th). 

Privates, first class — Joseph R. Conrad (Sept. 28th), and Robert E. 
Pring (Sept. 28th). 

Privates — John C. Burk (Sept. 29th), Frank B. Buscavage (Sept. 28th), 
Herman Chottner (Sept. 28th), William E. Dunmore (Sept. 28th), Ludwic 
Jostrzemtriski (Sept. 27th), John Kavolski (Sept. 28th), Joseph LaCamera 
(Sept. 27th), Guiseppe Lasgola (Sept. 28th), Kazmierz Malicki (Oct. 
1st),* Newman Neflf (Sept. 27th), Coy Reed (Sept. 29th), John A. Rings 
(Sept. 29th), Stanley Szepietowski (Sept. 28th) and Jacob J. Wysocki 
(Sept. 29th). 

320th Infantry Machine Gun Company 

Privates— Ralph Clark (Sept. 29th), Ray Finley (Sept. 28th), Abram 
Friedlander (Sept. 28th). Maurice Kettering (Sept. 28th) Albert H. 
IMcVicker (Sept. 28th), Alexander Nieman (Sept. 28th) and Jacob Painter 
(Sept. 28th). 



* Reported on this date suffering from the effects of gas come in con- 
tact with during the operations September 26-29, 1918. 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 95 

Killed : One officer and twenty-two men. Wounded : Ninety- 
seven men. Missing: Three men. A sum total of one hundred 
and twenty-three casualties. Indeed, no small contribution to 
have been made in the cause of the liberty of the world. To 
these men, and especially to those who, in the heyday of 
young manhood, made the supreme sacrifice, men will give 
glory and honor always, and rightly so. But we must not 
forget the men who fought by their side, perhaps as valiantly 
as they, undergoing the same danger, and suffering the same 
horrors and hardships of actual battle, but who, with the smile 
of fortune upon them, came out of it unscathed. I desire to 
record their names so as to preserve in my own memory 
always the names of these heroic men. 

OTHER PARTICIPANTS IN THIS OPERATION UNDER 
MY COMMAND 

Battalion Headquarters 

Second Lieutenant Charles R. Preston, S. O. S. Officer and Acting 
Adjutant. 

Sergeant Major William J. H. Meier (Hq. Co.). 

Sergeant William J. Robinson ("A" Co.). 

Corporal Norwood H. Nies (Hq. Co.). 

Privates, first class — George Curtis Brown ("A" Co.), Raymond W. 
Earnest ("A" Co.), Thomas N. Kane ("C" Co.), Raymond E. Pluskey 
("B" Co.) and David A. Rorison ("C" Co.). 

Private Leon M. Bazile (Hq. Co.). 

Company "A" 

Captain Harry F. Gilmore, First Lieutenant Leonard J. Supple and 
Second Lieutenant Kirk W. Machette. 

First Sergeant Joseph G. Dougherty, Mess Sergeant William M. 
Smucker, Supply Sergeant Frank Fisher, Jr. 

Sergeants — Nick Broker, Edward M. Brown, Ralph C. Bughcr, Willis 
C. Gault, Samuel F. Gower, Robert H. Long, Jeremiah J. Madden, Roy 
Taylor and Ellwood Varney, Jr. 

Corporals — Roy W. Anderson, Fred J. Askin, Paul D. Baum, John 
Becker, Frank B. Brinker, John C. Chambers, Joseph S. Crossen, William 
A. Douglass, Thomas F. Ebersole, Byrd R. Fox, Edward Harrison, Jr., 
John Houghton, Clarence C. Mansfield, Morgan W. McAlpin, John J. 
McKee, Jack Pallito, Walter J. Posenau, Harry E. Sible, Donald W. 
Thomas, Fred J. Trees, John R. Yockey, Robert P. Willig and Stanislaus 
Zimowski. 

Cooks — Hugh Geyer, Lucas Mikedis, Frank T. Ryan and Albert B. 
Torrance. 

Mechanics — Walter L. Buch, John H. Rozum, David R. Swanson and 
John J. Ward. 

Bugler — Norval M. Eisaman. 

Privates, first class — Walter J. Beckncr, James P. Bell, Norman Brown, 
Gus. A. Coleson, Forrest C. Corbett, Richard G. Deemer, Daniel R. 
Downey, Samuel J. Fleming, Pierce I. Geist, Roy T. Gumbert, James E. 
Harkins, Charles H. Hoffman, Carl M. Hovis, Harry W. Hugus, Frank 
Lerminiaux, Martin R. Manion, Marco Mercuric, Gabriel M. Motsney, 



96 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

Frank L. Mclntyre, Charles D. Riclenour, Melvin J. Shaw, Gustaf F. 
Spetz, Louis H. Stair, Harry B. Taylor, Max L. Tucker, Nick Valentine 
and John Williams. 

Privates — Jasper Allera, Nicola Ammazzalorso, John P. Andre, David 
K. Auchinvole, Thomas H. Bainbridge, Albert G. Baker, Harry H. Bar- 
rach, Lloyd Beatty, Charles H. Beer, William Boardman, Walter 
Boyd, Ned L. Brown, Angelo Butto, Albert W. Carnes, George W. Carnes, 
Fred Caster, Pietro Chilelli, Perry M. Christy, Daniel A. Cleary, Patrick 
P. Collins, Frank R. Cornmesser, Robert L. Crytser, Louis De Caprio, 
Vincenzo Di Franco, Vitaliano Di Gregorio, Gabriel Di Michelle, Clayton 
H. Davis, Thomas W. Edinger, Thomas F. Ellenberger, Vincenzo Ficetti, 
Carl P. Fishel, Ralph W. Fox, William J. A. Frohwerk, Damazy Fronck- 
iewicz, Harry L Frye, Antonio Funari, Angelo Gobbin, Steve W. Gonda, 
George H. Grants, Laurence K. Helman, Albert Hetrick, Frank Jeziak, 
Frank A. Jones, Roy E. Jones, Joseph A. Karnes, Don Kerns, Ellis Keter- 
holtz, Walter J. Kiehl, James J. Kierman, Edward J. Kissel, George J. 
Kingan, Andrew M. Klein, John K. Klukan, Harold L Kobacker, Sam 
Kokayko, Stanley Kos, Herman Krump, Floyd C. Lambing, Charles H. 
Laundrie, Percy V. Leighton, Sawadore Licciardollo, George E. Long, 
Arthur D. Lynch, Harry McCombie, Lewis W. McDonald, Roy L. 
McElravy, William McGrogan, Michael Marinelli, Roy E. Miller, Vincenzo 
Nardone, Harvey Neiswonger, Kazimer Obidjinsky, Joseph E. Olson, Vin- 
cenzo Parise, Domenico Passanza, Earl B. Pettis, Albert A. Pinchock, 
Steele B. Plotner, Joseph C. Powell, Francesco Quarato, James A. Rauch, 
Peter P. Raymond, Gilbert R. Semans, Jay S. Shirey, Andrew H. Smith, 
Galon S. Smith, James P. Smith, Nickola Solova, Chester J. Stambaugh, 
Oscar W. Stoneberg, Domenico Stratta, Charles B. Stratton, Adam Surab, 
Mike Swistock, Jr., David E. Tice, Alesandro Toppi, Fred Trumbull, 
Stanislaw Tumzak, Albert Urbanuri, Giovanni Vankere, Dalton W. Ver- 
ner, Henry E. Vernon, Dominic Vitalone, Mike Voke, Peter P. Wagner, 
Jolly V. Walker, Robert L. Wampler, Watkin R. Watkins, John Welchko, 
Ernest N. Wimberg, Joseph C. Wiles, Sam Williams, Chalmers Wissinger, 
Joseph Woodman, John M. Wyke, Frank Yablonski, Alex D. Yeatts, 
Hallam F. Zellefrow and Milton A. Zimmerman. 

Company "B" 

First Lieutenant George C. Little, Company Commander and First 
Lieutenants Hugh C. Parker and William D. Smith, and Second Lieu- 
tenant Ralph E. Ogle. 

First Sergeant Joseph F. Walter, Mess Sergeant Staniford L. Lam- 
bert. 

Sergeants — Thurston E. Anderson, William C. Decker, Jay A. Jackson, 
William H. Keenan, Thomas J. Leighner, Robert L. Martin, Charles E. 
Miller and Eugene O'Neil. 

Corporals — Homer G. Beck, Albert B. Cox, William J. Dillner, Harris 
Frazier, Leroy S. Gosnell, Alexander Hamilton, Ernest O. Hennig, Jr., 
William Lewis, Daniel B. McGarey, Paul Newrohr, Charles A. Olson, 
John Rechert, Eleuterio Ricci, Harry G. Ripple, Dale H. Ross, George F. 
Smith and Roy T. Weale. 

Cooks — Harry E. Long, William Schafer and George W. Stocks. 

Mechanic — Charles W. Utz. 

Buglers — Francisco Palmieri and Conrad J. Schober. 

Privates, first class — Guilio D. Franco, Joseph C. Henry, William R. 
Hice, Leo Honcia, William W. Kane, Charles T. Krepps, John L. 
McCracken, William H. Morgan, Croca Sansone and Waldo G. Sarver. 

Privates — John Adornette, William C. Alexander, George C. Alleman, 
Harry Ashbaugh, Matthew Babinski, Julius U. Badzik, Paolo Ballanca, 
George F. Barthold, Charles C. Bell, Cal V. Beyer, Orazio Bianco, Joseph 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 97 

V. Baltic, Wilson L. Brinker, Frank A. Brogl, Guiseppe Buoniconti, 
Antonio Calabri, John M. Campbell, Michele Ceraso, Jacob Chuca, John 
Coll, George H. Copeland, Harold M. Grouse, Clyde W. Davis, Andrew 
F. Dousch, Thomas J. Doyle, Alfred H. Farley, Albert J. Edwards, 
Russell B. Emme, Charley Fallitta, Casper J. Feller, Joseph W. Fleck, 
Ludwig K. F"ox, JMyer Friedman, William A. Gallagher, Thomas Ganaras, 
Walter R. Garstecke, Howard E. Gilleland, Ignace Golitsky, Mike Govern, 
Thomas C. Grant, William J. Gray, Frank J. Grygier, Morse D. Green- 
field, Charles R. Haines, George A. Hamilla, Richard C Hannegan, 
Edward T. Harhegar, Robert F. Harper, Knute L. Hedland, Nickolas 
Heller, Lloyd S. Hensley, Jesse Hess, James T. Higgins, Lorenzo S. Hill, 
George Hommel, John L. Hoolahan, Richard Howard, John W. Hramitz, 
Pasquale Indinarelli, Thomas B. Jaquette, Herman C. Johns, John P. 
Johnson, Harvey Jordan, Joseph Just, Morris Kaminsky, Joseph Karafa, 
Joseph Katchmark, William. E. Kelley, Nathan Kessler, Peter J. Killmyer, 
Herbert J. Klein, Boleslaw Klepacki, Enesto Lancioto, Clyde E. Lees, 
Stephen Lichok, James C. Lynn, Ernest McAllister, Alfred McDonald, 
Edward J. McGinness, Henry A. McKay, Andy Machulka, Carlo Madona, 
Filomena Mancuso, John H. Marks, John R. Marshall, Frank Marenga, 
Giocondo Mazaferri, Frank Metz, John Mihall, Elmer Miller, Lee Milliron, 
Louis Miscovish, George H. Mohr, Mike Molchan, John Morelli, Urbano 
Mori, Gabor Naggy, Fabian Nazarino, Hardman E. Nebling, Stevan 
Ogrizovic, Hugh O'Hara, William H. Pail, Tony Pallacci, John Pamar- 
anski, Tony Paradora, Ludwyk Petelski, Louis Pfister, Giorgia Pisero, 
Roger Restauri, Earl S. Riffle, Kiser Rosky, Raffaele Sabatino, John 
Savanick, Rudolf Schiavoni, Charles M. Schnatterly, Joseph Sedziak, Emil 
M. Semmelrock, John Sherman, Jr., Thomas J. Singleton, Edward S. 
Speaker, Harry G. Spreng, Charles Stankewicz, Michael J. Sughrue, Leo 
J. Sullivan, David Victor, Stanley Wasilewski, Stanislaw Wasilewski, 
Thomas R. Wilson, William Wingtove, Anthony C. Zelles and Theodore 
Zimmerman. 

Company "C" 

Captain Edward T. Miller, First Lieutenant Robert B. Thompson and 
Second Lieutenant Earl W. Worboy. 

First Sergeant Eugene B. Kelly, Mess Sergeant Leo J. Dressel, Supply 
Sergeant Herman H. Hendel. 

Sergeants— George M. Free, Martin G. Heck, Francis J. McGrogan, 
Irwin H. Patton, Andrew F. Vogel, Thomas Walters, George J. Wells, 
Howard G. Wilbert, Frederick M. Young and Thomas R. Young. 

Corporals — Henry P. Ambacher, Arvine T. Black, Walter E. Cochran, 
Paul Dott, Frank J. Eberhart, William McK. Egan, Clarence Hall, John 
R. Hibbard, Lawrence J. Holler, Hyacinth R. Lippert, Milburn P. Ohleger, 
George Pickios, Michael Sacco, Edward Schaier, Melbourne P. Schenk, 
William Taylor, Lawrence A. Wunderlich and George F. Ziegler, Jr. 

Cooks— Patrick J. Connor, John J. Edwards, Edward T. Moran and 
William F. Rakers. 

Mechanics — George R. Hilf, Andrew Redlich and William J. Robinson. 

Buglers — John D. Foote and Tobia Purchiaroni. 

Privates, first class — Frederick M. Abel, Jozef Adamski, James Allen, 
Albert B. Augustine, Andrew J. Bannon, Jan Bielski, Frank Boyle, Jozef 
Czerniawka, Samuel J. Dunlap, Robert M. Dunn, Ernest E. Echols, 
Edward J. Goetz, Felix T. Goedert, Patrick Haney, Andrew Hastings, 
Charles P. Hodge, Milton E. Hossack, William Kelley, Joseph E. Kenna, 
Charles H. Julin, Percy Lloyd, Arthur Lowe, Orward L. Lugner, Frank 
M. Luffey, Pasquale Mauro, George R. Miller, Fred E. Newland, John J. 
O'Leary, James J. O'Neill, John F. Raines, Albert S. Schwartzmiller, Wil- 
liam A. Truitt, Isaac R. Tyger and Ignacy Trzeinski. 



98 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

Privates — John Amsler, William R. Bailing, Tom Balsamo, Aloj'zy 
Bialik, Guiseppe Bianchi, James J. Birmingham, Chester R. Bishop, Henry 
H. Blaich, Lewis V. Bolkey, Frederick J. Brannon, Guiseppe Bruni, Peter 
L. Butts, Charles E. Cawthorne, Thomas Campbell, Lui Cipro, James F. 
Crawford, James J. Cregan, John J. Culhane, Christopher J. Cleary, 
James O. Debalt, Stefan Formaniak, Phillip Frenger, Wilbert C. Gillespie, 
Jesse L. Getz, Frank Gilewski. William Gornflo, Andy Guidas, Charles H. 
Hale, James F. Haley, Glen J. Hixon, Frank E. Hannsman, Martin E. 
Hein, Vincent Krustop, Walter Kujawa, John Jane, William F. Johnson, 
Frank J. Lafferty, Rocco Lauri, Martin Laurin, Patrick H. Lavin, Elmer 
L. Lawrence, Wincenty Lingo, William H. Lloyd, James F. McConville, 
James P. McGinness, William D. Mclntire, John W. Martin, Steve Minski, 
Michael C. Moran, Albert A. Morgan, Roy L. Morgan, Peter Morrani, 
Lloyd P. Myers, Albert B. Nelson, San Notario, Emil J. Nylander, Lewis 
N. Nystrom, Edward Orehauski, Peter Panchenko, Antonio Panico, 
Archimede Paolella, William K. Patterson, Francesco Pensiero, Sylvester 
Perfume, Domenick Picuto, Nick Pinizotto, Maximillien Reffert, Paul 
Reho, Charles H. Reynolds, William J. Richter, Harry Riley, Lawrence 
H. Rowland, Joseph Rosenthal, John Rosnick, Giovanni Rosso, Dey D. 
Rutherford, Giacomo Saia, Steve Sambresik, Joseph Sanders, Henry 
Schroeder, Peter P. Schuler, William A. Seller, Jesse Shorter, Nick 
Sicker. John M. Silliman, Charles H. Smith, Clyde J. Smith, Hugo E. 
Spelsburg, Albert Stenstrom, Preston K. Tally, John G. Thiernal, Harry 
J. Volkwein, Clyde B. Watton, Francis Waychoff and Thomas E. Wyse. 

Company "D" 

Captain Harry A. Sabiston, First Lieutenant James V. Russell and 
Second Lieutenant James H. Abies. 

First Sergeant Rudolph R. Menzinger, Mess Sergeant John N. Digby, 
Supply Sergeant Edward B. Flannigan. 

Sergeants — William H. Baker, James E. Langan and Charles H. Wilson. 

Corporals — John W. Anderson, Frederick J. Bach, Joseph J. Donovan, 
John Douglass, Frank H. Fracek, Howard A. Gano, Joseph L. Garlicki, 
Clarence B. Jones, Thomas Krzyzosiak, Anthony Miklaszewicz, Joseph M. 
Moog, Jesse R. S. Schroeder, Joseph J. Simmons, Walter Sobszak, Frank 
H. Thompson, Thomas F. Truel, Peter F. Voegler and Alfred T. Wrigley. 

Cooks— Frank W. Alarmo, Emil T. Miller, Raymond Shipley and John 
Zyeccea. 

Mechanics— Frank L. Davis, William E. Foster and John B. Labuskas. 

Buglers— William B. Dice and Stephen M. Wano. 

Privates, first class — Harry W. Altmeyer, Bill B. Bowman, Joseph 
Burkhart, Joe R. Carder, Coy Cheek, Walter T. Cochrane, Howard T. 
Downing, Alexander Elliott, John P. Hughes, Fred J. Karl, Mitrofan, 
Klebanovitch, Herbert F. Kuhl, Joseph A. Laird, Harry F. Lindner, Joseph 
Lipko, Nicholas S. Mackowiak, Liebold Miodnszewski, Joseph Mooney, 
Joseph E. Moff, John P. O'Hagan, Elmer Palmquist, Thaddeus Polinski, 
Robert E. Pring, Adam Ruminski, George Schloer, Michael Seksni, Wil- 
liam R. Shackleford, Giovanni Spadaro, George J. Traue, Cecil C. Vans- 
coy, William F. Winter, George J. Weiss, Waldystaw Yurek and William 
M. Zandier. 

Privates — Vincenzo Adamo, Basilio Antinori, Nicholas Bobeck, Julian 
Bobrowski, Joseph A. Bosserman, Hayward Broadwater, Dellie Brown, 
Steve B. Burns, John E. Chance, Phillip Chesney, Stephen J. Chmielwski, 
Charles F. Chorheer, Ambrose Christy, Lambert H. Clifford, William H. 
Coll, William A. Colquist, James C. Cottrill, Howard J. Cozad, Claud R. 
Crook, Carmine Cusano, Anthony A. Delbene, Alexander Dembinski, 
Guiseppe Devito, Gabriel Destefano, Harry Doeffinger, Constant Donbar, 
John Donnelly, Otto F. Drahiem, Joseph Drzymala, Raymond Edevane, 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 99 

Felix Evanoski, Bartolomeo Fabi, Antonio Faraoni, Bronislaus Fischer, 
Raymond B. Fleegle, Albert C. Forinash, John M. Galouzes, Henry W. 
Gerhold, Edward J. Glennan, Stoka Goff, Joseph Golubski, Antoni 
Gotewbiski, John Gorski, Charles B. Haddad, Michael C. Hanley, Alex 
Harkins, Odd H. Harter, Sylvester A. Henger, Joseph Herdman, Russell 
B. Horner, Tomase Hyzy, Kazmerz Ignatovicz, Earl Ivory, Stanislaw 
Jakubiak, Henry Janke, Joseph J. Janowski, George Kafutis, Rak Kiusi, 
Joseph IClemanski, Walter Kondej, George Kopis, Kazmierz Kostro, 
Peter Krammerwitz, Stanley Krasinski, Stanislaus Krasowaski, Elias J. 
Kroustonis, Fred Kudelka, Phillip Kuisnik, David Levinson, George Liep, 
William H. Lowther, Stanley Lukash, Carl J. Lund, Teofil Lutowski, 
Joseph E. Matthews, Edward G. Meade, Henry Meadows, Victor Mickunas, 
Francis Milewski, James V. McDermott, Michael McDonough, Frank 
Magee, Umberto Moriconi, John S. Mouse, Tony Mulniex, Harley E. Nay, 
Maryjan Of man, Joseph Orkik, Frank J. Paozkowski, Giovanni Pallotto, 
Mateuse Pawelak, Angelo Phillips, Donato G. Pisconeri, Thaddeus Polin- 
ski, Guiseppe Pumpinella, Antonio Rocco, Charles Rodgers, Edward 
Schultz, Carl J. Schwietzer, William Smith, Stanislaw Sobieki, Walter 
Stawski, Edgar E. Stevens, Lawrence Suppert, Jozapas Swaldeinis, Kwiryn 
Szarmach, Walter Trazmerski, Frank Treder, Alex Tuchnoeski, James 
F. Valentine, Kamaritis Vlahogianos, Stanislaw Wasek, Frank Waziak, 
Thomas B. Welsh, Samuel Williams, Stanislaw Wojtyniak, John Zaremba, 
John Zavortka and Wiadystaw Zielinski. 

BATTALION S. O. S.* SECTION 

Second Lieutenant Charles R. Preston, Battalion S. O. S. Officer (1). 

(1) In this operation Lieutenant Preston in addition to his duties as 
Battalion S. O. S. Officer acted as Battalion Adjutant. 

Sergeants — Jeremiah J. Madden ("A" Co.) Senior Sergeant, Sergeants 
William H. Baker ("D" Co.), Martin G. Heck ("C" Co.) and Fred M. 
Young ("C" Co.). 

Corporals— Morgan McAlpin ("A" Co.), Daniel B. McGary ("B" 
Co.) and George Pickios ("C" Co.). 

Privates, first class — Harry N. Altmeyer ("D" Co.), Harry W. Hugus 
("A" Co.), William Hice ("B" Co.), Charles H. Julin ("C" Co.), William 
W. Kane ("B" Co.), Charles T. Krepps ("B" Co.), Frank M. Luffey 
("C" Co.), Edward G. Meade ("D" Co.), John L. McCracken ("B" Co.), 
James J. O'Neill ("C" Co.), Waldo G. Sarver ("B" Co.), Melvin J. Shaw 
("A" Co.), Louis Stair ("A" Co.) and Harry B. Taylor ("A" Co.). 

Privates — Haywood S. Broadwater ("D" Co.), Lambert H. Clifford 
("D" Co.), Ralph W. Fox ("A" Co.), Richard Howard ("B" Co.) and 
Joseph Martin ("C" Co.). 

Medical Detachment 

First Lieutenants — Hinton J. Baker and Alton W. Davis. 

First Sergeant — George E. Black. 

Privates — William H. Anthony, Raymond T. Biggs, Guiseppi Cocuzzi, 
Norman Frey, Charles H. Gallagher, Rudie Hirth, J. Frank Lambert, 
William McKinley, Russell W. Mahon, Warren J. Milner, James F. 
Mitchell, Nicholas G. Roth and Gregorio Zapanta. 

Battalion Transport Detachment 

First Lieutenant Walter A. Sorensen ("C" Co.), Battalion Transport 
Officer and Second Lieutenant Frank W. McKean, Battalion Supply 
Officer. 



* Snipers, Observers and Scouts. 



100 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

Regimental Supply Sergeant John J. Coyne (Supp. Co.), Sergeant 
Frank Morrison ("B" Co.). 

Corporals — Frank P. Flynn ("A" Co.), Joseph Perkoski ("D" Co.) 
and Wilbert J. Stewart (Supp. Co.). 

Horseshoer — Howard W. Morton (Supp. Co.). 

Saddler — George Dineka (Supp. Co.). 

Cook — John G. Bentz (Supp. Co.). 

Wagoners — Percy E. Caldwell (Supp. Co.), Daniel M. Cavenaugh 
(Supp. Co.), Herbert Christner (Supp. Co.), Henry F. Cleer (Supp. Co.), 
John W. Colgan (Supp. Co.), Linus J. Donahue (Supp. Co.), Austen 
Ericksson (Supp. Co.), Edward Grimm (Supp. Co.), Lloyd Hudson 
(Supp. Co.), Alexander Jackson (Supp. Co.), Frank L. Jones (Supp. 
Co.), Elm«r R. Kepple (Supp. Co.), Joseph J. Marous (Supp. Co.), Ber- 
nard McGinty HL (Supp. Co.), Otto Schatz (Supp. Co.), Andy J. Sta- 
shick (Supp. Co.), Elmer G. Stasler (Supp. Co.) and Lawrence Sullivan 
(Supp. Co.) 

Private, first class — Stanley M. Hallett ("D" Co.). 

Privates — Lawrence E. Brannen ("D" Co.), Edward Buxton ("B" 
Co.), Michael Curry ("B" Co.), Harold W. Dettmer ("C" Co.), Daniel 
Flannery (Supp. Co.), Maurice Hartnett ("C" Co.), Frank E. Kolenda 
("C" Co.), Carmine Lingobardo ("A" Co.), Edward B. Myers ("A" Co.), 
Angelo Paradiso ("C" Co.), Levin T. Phillips ("D" Co.), Emanuel Piazze 
("B" Co.), John Prutsok ("B" Co.), Herman F. Reiser ("C" Co.), John 
Rutcki ("B" Co.), Oscar W. Sletton ("D"' Co.), Herbert O. Speer ("C" 
Co.), Max Szarmach ("D" Co.), Antonio Vilardi ("A" Co.), Albert L. 
Wagner ("B" Co.) and James E. Whiteman ("A" Co.). 

Signal Detachment 

Sergeants — Stephen J. Cushion and Lawrence S. Letzkus. 

Corporals — John Freese, Owen B. Hannon, Jacon Lenhart and James 
P. Thomas. 

Privates, first class — Harry W. Adams, Harry C. Hub, Freidel Rosen- 
quist and Homer T. Whitehead. 

Privates — Daniel A. Bailey, William F. Bunting, Harry A. Deane, John 
P. Larkin, Alfred Murray and Guy R. Schwartz. 

320th Infantry Machine Gun Company 

First Lieutenant C. C. Vermeule, Company Commander, First Lieu- 
tenant A. P. Leyburn and Second Lieutenants G. H. Burnett and C. B. 
Mowbray. 

First Sergeant L. H. Rutherford, Mess Sergeant William A. Confer, 
Supply Sergeant John B. Devereaux, Stable Sergeant James G. Ferry. 

Sergeants — John Connors, Henry S. Lycoe, William A. Neister, Albert 
Schmude, William M. Summerville, Anthony R. Wagner, Ernest Weyman, 
William F. Weyman and Ross Williams. 

Corporals — Orran Bollet, Emery E. Burns, Joseph G. Calverley, Henry 
R. Curry, Samuel W. Duncan, Victor G. Erhart, John W. Green, Clarence 
Neely, William A. Shoemaker and Christopher L Wyllie. 

Horseshoer — Walter Costello. 

Cooks — Ernest W. Howard, Carl Schwartz and Antonio Vernetti. 

Mechanics — Elmer F. Claffey, Edward J. Gallagher and Edward F. 
Lubomski. 

Saddler — Urban Doolittle. 

Buglers — Frederick R. Klein and Edward L. Workmaster. 

Privates, first class — Leo J. Boehrer, Martin Borosky, Walter C. Brendt, 
Victor R. Brennan, John A. Carlisle, Leonardo Colautti, Gay Colosimo, 
Roy Colt, Angelo Diodati, Frank Foster, Joseph W. Frankestein, Ray- 
mond N. Guckert, James A. Hawse, James G. Higgins, Ferdinand Kellar, 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 101 

Harry Maffei, Andrew Marlin, George Marson, Felix B. Mills, Percy D. 
Miller, Harold McElhaney, William Percy, Harry O. Perdew, Grover C 
Rhoades, Earl Rothwell, Walter E. Scott, Paul E. Sheetz, Clyde O. Sip- 
pel, John S. Watters and Frank Welty. 

Privates— Frederick Barney, John A. Bies, Robert J. Black, Leo A 
Boland, Thomas H. Bowen, Martin J. Burke, Ernest Carlson, Joseph M 
Carson, Vincent J. Cella, John Collins, Edward B. Duncan, Phillip G 
Eiffler, Carl Fischer, Edgar Fischer, Edward A. Fitzstephen, Andrew B 
Foster, Robert G. Fox, Russell J. Fuge, Frank Hire, David L, Hurst 
John P. Kessler, Robert Kyle, Charles W. Ley, Elsworth Lint Georo-e 
L. Loutzenhiser, Carson E. Lynn, John D. Marshall, Frank S Martin 
John W. Matthews, John Miterko, William H. Mitcheltree, Thomas Moran 
Peter Morzarch, Bert B. Moss, Joseph F. Mullem, Joseph F McCann' 
Raymond L. McCullough, Harvey H. McKaige, Joe Pagana Ralph m' 
Reno, Everett O. Rhoades. Elmer F. Rieman, William L. Rockfield, Haven 
Z- -M^^V o ?"^' Scarpino, William J. Schaefifer, Edward E. Schearin<^ 
^K^" V-ir ^"^'^^'■' Harrison Stevenson, Joseph P. Tobasco, Fred Trenz' 
Clifford Vottler, Edward Weiblen, Jr, Raymond E. Wetherill, Howard 
Wilson and Wilham P. Zwick. 

Having taken stock of ourselves and reorganized we waited 
for what might develop, and of course, for orders, spending our 
time in such routine work, instruction and what not as time and 
circumstances permitted. 

GOOD NEWS 

I recall about this time that an aeroplane from Paris (or some 
other place) flew over us and dropped newspapers which told 
of the capitulation of Bulgaria, and the impending situation in 
Turkey and Austria-Hungary. This was indeed great news to 
all of us, and we never ceased to look for the plane to come 
oyer and bring us more news. One has no idea how little a sol- 
dier at the front knows about what is going on in the world ; a 
newspaper to him is a great treat. As a general rule, of course, 
there are no newspapers except on very special occasions, like 
the one I have mentioned, where the Government evidently took 
special pains to bring this cheering news to the soldiers at the 
front. Rumor, not news, is what the front line soldier gets, 
but rumors after a time become so varied and so extravagant 
that men cease to pay much attention to them. Really the people 
at home know a great deal more about what is going on at the 
front than the men who are doing the fighting, except, of course, 
the fighting on their immediate front. 

Several commissions came through while we were at Cuisy. 
I received a commission as Major, although I had been in com- 
mand of the battalion since the latter part of August. Lieutenant 
Little, commanding "B" Company, was at the same time pro- 
moted to Captain, and Lieutenant Corduan, my Adjutant, was 
made a First Lieutenant. At Cuisy, also, I had Sergeant jay J. 
Jackson of "B" Company, made Battalion Sergeant-Ma j or and 
attached to my headquarters. He was a splendid young man. 



102 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

At the same time I recommended that the following officers be 
promoted to the next higher grade : 

First Lieutenant William D. Smith, First Lieutenant James 
V. Russell, Second Lieutenant Kirk W. Machette, Second Lieu- 
tenant Hetzel S. Pownall, Second Lieutenant Earl W. Worboy, 
Second Lieutenant Frank W. McKean, and Second Lieutenant 
Charles R. Preston. 

All these officers afterwards received their promotions 
except Lieutenant Worboy and Lieutenant Machette, both of 
whom were killed before the promotions came through. 

While at Cuisy I also recommended that the following Ser- 
geants be promoted to the grade of Second Lieutenant, or that 
they be sent to school to fit them for that grade : 

Sergeants W. C. Gault, J. E. Robinson, Joseph F. Walters, 
Eugene V. Kelly, George J. Wells, Francis J. McGregon, George 
J. Dougherty, Eugene O'Neill and Albert S. Mattern. 

Some of these men have already received commissions and 
others will receive them, no doubt, in the course of time. 

ANXIOUS WAITING 

And thus the work went on while we waited at Cuisy. And 
there were many rumors, too, to add zest to the dangerous life. 
I remember Captain Sumner gave me the information that the 
159th Brigade was having a hard time at the Bois des Ogons, 
which was a wooded crest about two kilometers north of Nan- 
tillois, which latter town was about four kilometers northwest 
of us, and the information sifted through in some way that we 
were being held in reserve to support that brigade. All rumors, 
however, were set at rest on the fifth of October when there 
was sent to me a copy of a Division Order which set out the true 
situation. The division attacked habitually in a column of bri- 
gades, that is, one brigade behind the other. It will be remem- 
bered that in the attack on September 26th above Bethincourt, 
our brigade (the 160th) was in the front, with the two regiments 
side by side, with the 159th Brigade in reserve. It appeared that 
the 159th Bridage, when relieved as our reserve in the Bethin- 
court sector, about October 1, had been shoved into another 
division sector above Nantillois, where an attack had been launch- 
ed on the fourth of October and we were being held in reserve 
at Cuisy to support them. Knowledge of the true situation 
naturally increased the interest which we took in the progress 
that was being made by the 159th Brigade, and news that that 
brigade was being hard-pressed at the Bois des Ogons, which 
was indeed, as we afterwards found out, a very difficult and 
dangerous position, gave us much concern. News drifted out 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 103 

to US also on the 6th of October that the 159th Brigade had made 
three separate attempts to take the Bois des Ogons and had been 
driven back every time with heavy losses, due to the enemy's 
enfilading artillery across the Meuse River, which constantly 
swept the slopes leading to the hill and on account of the enor- 
mous amount of gas the Boche was putting in the woods on the 
crest. 

Things were brought to a head, however, at five o'clock in the 
afternoon of October 6th, when I received the following message 
from the Regimental Commander : 

"Your battalion will take up supporting position in Trench 
des Artisans behind Hill 299 in Square 28. Report to, and 
establish liaison with, Harold. Take over Haddie lines to Hayes. 
Company 315 M. G.'s will report to you at your new P. C. You 
will move out as soon as the men are fed, provided that the meal 
is ready now." 

"Harold" was the code name of the 159th Brigade; "Haddie," 
the name of the 319th Infantry; "Hayes," the name of our own 
Brigade (160th). The code name of my battalion was "Hes- 
ton." 

The men's supper was ready, and I had them get in shape 
with their packs and rations and all their paraphernalia of war, 
and they had their supper as soon as possible so as to move out 
as soon as darkness fell upon the earth to hide us from the Boche 
obervers. I had no direction as to my transport so I left my 
horses and wagons and rolling kitchens where they were until 
I should send back further orders as to their movement. I 
remember before I pulled out I went in to see the Regimental 
Commander to see if there were any further instructions he had 
to give me, or if he had any information as to my ultimate desti- 
nation and mission. He had none, although I suspected he had 
more than he cared to give me, as I noticed an attitude of 
unusual solicitude for my comfort and welfare. Indeed the 
Colonel went so far as to send me, after I had left him, a huge 
plug of sun-cured chewing tobacco, a commodity much to be 
prized in that time and place. In other words, the regimental 
headquarters "kissed me good-bye," so to speak, because they 
evidently knew what I was about to get into. 



104 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 



CHAPTER VII 



THE TRENCH DES ARTISANS 

Just at the fall of dusk I led my column up the valley that 
lay just in front of us toward the west, keeping always off the 
roads, as the Boche had them all registered, and passed at length 
across the ridge in the direction of Montfaucon. I crossed the 
Montfaucon-Cuisy Road and thence by the Fayl Farm where 
the brigade headquarters were located and then around the east 
edge of the Bois de Tuilerie and to the Trench des Artisans. 
I had fortunately sent some of my intelligence men ahead to 
locate the route, otherwise we would never have found the way 
oyer the fields and bogs and along the narrow passages through 
wire entanglements. Indeed, these narrow openings in the wire, 
and the difficulties of the way in the darkness, made it necessary 
for my column to stretch out in single file in many places, and 
it was with the greatest difficulty that I prevented some of my 
companies from getting lost. We reached the Trench des Arti- 
sans at 9:25 P. M. October 6, and I immediately sent the fol- 
lowing message to the Commanding General of the 159th Bri- 
gade : 

"I have to report that I have taken up support position in 
Trench des Artisans, behind Hill 299. Company "A," Hickey, 
has reported to me. Have taken over old Haddie P. C. at M2183 
and I am awaiting instructions as to disposition of M. G. Com- 
pany. I am sending runner to you. 

Williams, Major, commanding Heston." 

The Trench des Artisans was, as its name indicates, merely a 
trench. It extended at right angles from the Montfaucon-Sept- 
sarges Road for about two hundred meters and then paralleled 
the road for about the same distance. It was less than a mile 
from Montfaucon. I had placed my men in this trench and then 
proceeded to the Haddie Post of Command, which was about 
two hundred yards distant and located in a little shack beside 
a trench railroad at the edge of the Bois de Tuilerie. This shack 
was built of rough timber, about four feet high, ten feet long, 
and five feet wide, so that one had to crawl in and sit on the 
floor with his back against the side. Arranged in this order it 
accommodated, besides myself, my Adjutant, my Orderly, and 
two Signal men who looked after tlie telephone. This little place, 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 105 

notwithstanding its dimensions, would have been very comfort- 
able as Hfe at the front went, if it had not been for the fact that 
our own heavy artillery was located in the Bois de Tuilerie, a 
few hundred yards away, and the Boche heavy pieces, which had 
registered on these guns, were continuously throwing over great, 
monstrous high explosive shells weighing from eight to twelve 
hundred pounds. And, due to his error in elevation, some of 
them were coming immediately over our heads and some falling 
on either side of us. One of these monstrous shells, I remember, 
fell within fifty feet of the right of the shack, wounding a 
wounded man and throwing dirt and shell splinters against our 
temporary habitation, and another one fell a short distance to 
the left of our shack. I remember things looked so shaky for a 
time that we had up the question of moving, but I was a little 
superstitious and thought that if we moved and got killed there 
would be no one to blame but ourselves. So we stuck it out and 
luck was with us. 

Of course, nobody slept in the place, sleep was out of the 
question. In fact, when starting up to the fighting line one 
should make up his mind to leave sleep behind him. Sometimes 
it may overtake you, but you should never woo it ; you must con- 
stantly repel it. 

Without sleep, therefore, we remained in that little shack all 
that night. I did not know, of course, for what purpose my 
battalion was to be used, but the impression got abroad that we 
would move back in a day or two or that my men would be used 
for the purpose of preparing a defensive position above Nantillois, 
where it was feared the Boche intended to make a strong counter- 
move. The impression evidently came from an inquiry from 
Brigade as to how many men I had, and mentioned something 
about an engineering detail. I remember I replied that I had 
available 634 men. This was in addition, of course, to the 
Machine Gun Company that had been assigned to me. 

No orders having been received on the night of October 6-7, I 
determined on the morrow to go forward to Nantillois and recon- 
noiter the route to the front and the terrain, and visit Colonel 
Love of the 319th Infantry under whose command I was to act 
until such time as my regiment should move up in that sector. 

A TRIP TO NANTILLOIS 

In the morning, therefore, I started out with my Company 
Commanders and my Orderly, toward Nantillois. We fol- 
lowed for the most part the little trench railway that wound 
around the barren ridges until we reached the Nantillois-Sept- 
sarges Road at a point about five hundred yards from Nantillois. 



106 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

There were many evidences that a great struggle had taken place 
over this ground in the battle of a few days before. Equipment 
and broken wagons and dead horses were everywhere. There 
were no dead men scattered over the fields, as they had been 
picked up and laid in a long row on the bank beside the road 
leading into Nantillois. There were perhaps a hundred of them. 
It was indeed a pathetic sight. They were Boche and Americans, 
lying side by side, calm and peaceful and unhating in death wait- 
ing for that final act of the crude hands of the living to shove 
them into the waiting grave, back into the bosom of the mother 
from which they sprang, to be known and seen no more upon the 
face of the earth. 

As we entered Nantillois we passed through a cut in the road 
that formed a sharp impression on either side. Here horses and 
wagons and men were lined in as close as they could get for 
protection against the Boche shells that were searching the place 
constantly, as it was the main entrance to the town. Just beyond 
the cut, after we entered the town proper, the road was cluttered 
up with dead horses that had been killed by the Boche shells, 
evidently as soon as they cleared the cut and came into the open. 
They had been thrust into the gutter along the side of the road 
to make the passage clear. Indeed there was something almost 
as pathetic alaout these dead horses as about the dead men we 
saw. Not only were they pathetic, but they were horrible to look 
at. When horses are killed their food ceases to digest and begins 
to ferment and they swell up out of all proportion. Indeed, we 
were in no mood to gaze upon these torn, bleeding, swollen 
creatures and we therefore hurried on into the regimental head- 
quarters, which was situated in what had once been a basement 
of a church but was now merely a vault, all the upper part of the 
structure having been blown away by shell fire. It was a very safe 
place on the inside, however, a heavily re-enforced cement affair 
upon the top of which heavy shells hit without appreciable 
damage. 

This vault contained two rooms. I found Colonel Love in the 
back room. We went over the entire situation together, he 
explaining to me for the first time that my battalion would likely 
take over a sector in the front line, running through the Bois des 
Ogons. Colonel Love was frankly not optimistic about the situa- 
tion at the front and did not hesitate to picture to me the great 
difficulties I might be expected to encounter. He was undoubt- 
edly impressed with the fact that former attempts to advance 
beyond the place had been attended with such sanguinary results. 
He spoke especially of the Boche fire from across the Meuse 
that constantly swept the approaches to the place. I remember 
that his remarks were punctuated from time to time by the burst- 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 107 

ing of shells in the immediate neighborhood of the headquarters, 
which carried conviction as to the truth of his statements. 

I confess, therefore, that between the account that he had 
given me of the difficult situation I was about to face, perhaps 
that night, and the more immediate annoyance which the Boche 
gave us immediately outside of the headquarters, I was in no 
happy frame of mind as I left Colonel Love's vault, and moved 
back again to my headquarters in the Trench des Artisans, which 
latter place we reached about noon. 

In the afternoon I set about making such additional prepara- 
tions and provisions as would be found necessary on receiving 
orders to move forward. I recall that the rations which the men 
had on them were running low and I selected a position for my 
ration limbers to come forward to on the next day and bring 
rations to be taken up into the front line. I recall also that I made 
provisions for having the men's rolls dumped in a pile to be left 
under guard when we should go forward, as men could not go into 
battle with heavy packs. These things having been arranged for 
in the afternoon we began at dark what we thought would be 
another night of "Watchful Waiting." I remember after dark 
the telephone wires that connected me with Brigade and that ran 
through the Bois de Tuilerie were blown out by artillery fire and 
the signal men had to go out in the darkness through the shell- 
torn woods and repair them. I regret that I cannot recall their 
names so as to record and preserve a tribute to their splendid 
courage and devotion to duty. About 9:00 o'clock I received a 
message from Brigade to hold myself in readiness for an impor- 
tant order that could not be sent over the telephone on account 
of the ungentlemanly method the Boche had of "listening in" 
over the 'phone system, but was to come by messenger. The mes- 
sage reached me a half-hour later and was to the effect that T 
should move my command up to the front line and take over a 
certain sector in the Bois des Ogons so as to be in position before 
daylight the next morning. I communicated orders immediately 
to my commanders directing them to be in readiness. I delayed 
to move out, however, with my troops until about 12 :00 o'clock 
as I assumed that would give me ample time to get into position 
before daylight as prescribed in the order. In the meantime 
Colonel Love had sent me two guides for the move. I remember 
I raised a great deal of fuss and even went so far in an unguarded 
moment as to cuss a little — about not having received more guides, 
as I considered that I should have one guide for each company at 
least, even one for each platoon as my troops were going in the 
darkness into an area which neither I nor my officers had recon- 
noitered in daylight. As I could not talk about this matter over 
the telephone, I determined to go slightly ahead of my troops, see 



108 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

Colonel Love and secure, if possible, more guides for my troops, 
and have them ready at Nantillois by the time my men arrived. 

THE BOIS DES OGONS 

Full directions having been given my Company Commanders 
as to the route and the time of departure, I started out with my 
Adjutant, my Doctor, my Orderly and certain Intelligence men 
and runners attached to battalion headquarters. We followed 
for the most part the route that we had taken on my trip of the 
morning, but it was dark, of course, and therefore much more 
difficult. The trip was not unusual for that time and place. We 
were grateful for the darkness that gave a sense of security from 
the whining shells that searched the area, and the noise of many 
guns with their flashes lighting the sky stimulated and exhilarated 
the body and mind beyond all powers of description. I remember 
how fatigued in mmd and body we were after the four kilometer 
hike over the area amid the scenes that I have described and how 
relieved we were when we finally, about one o'clock of the morn- 
ing of October 8, reached Colonel Love's headquarters and went 
inside in a place of safety. I remember when we went through 
the front room of the vault I had to literally walk over the top 
of the men who were lying on the floor, so crowded were they, 
and the atmosphere was so tense that it could have been cut with 
a knife. The officers in Colonel Love's room were suffering under 
the strain of some excitement too, due to the fact, no doubt, that 
the Colonel's Adjutant had been killed outside the door that day 
and another of his officers had been shell-shocked at the same 
time. I remember as we got into the Colonel's room, a circum- 
stance that happened that night which, under different environ- 
ments might have been laughable, but betrayed the state of mind 
of the men in that room. The vault was closed up tight with 
heavy iron blinds, and the candles were burning all around the 
room. My Doctor had rolled a cigarette and he struck a match 
to light it. Colonel Love turned on him in an instant and said : 

"For God's sake, man, put out that light. Do you want us 
all killed in here?" 

I was not successful in getting any more guides out of Colonel 
Love, except that he furnished me a man to show me the P. C. 
that had been established for the battalion on the side of the hill 
up from Nantillois leading toward the Bois des Ogons. He said 
that the two guides he had furnished me would show the com- 
panies the sector and eschelons to be occupied. He kindly assured 
me, however, that it was "a hell of a place to go into." I had 
occasion to find out that he was not mistaken in his estimation 
of the situation. 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 109 

After a little while I judged that my troops had reached 
Nantillois and I went out to meet them and started up with them 
up the hill toward the Bois des Ogons. I stopped off however 
at the battalion P. C. and saw Captain Egan, whose battalion I 
was to relieve; and later was shown by him to the position of 
my headquarters on the crest of the hill above Nantillois. The 
march of my troops up the hill that night was all Colonel Love 
told me it would be. It was hell. The night was dark and the 
way was difficult and the Boche was sweeping the place from 
across the Meuse with light and heavy shells and with those most 
dreaded demons of all weapons, the Austrian 88's, or the whiz- 
bangs, as they are called. He was also putting over gas in great 
quantities. Indeed, it is hard to understand how any living crea- 
ture could have passed up that hill that night without injury, and 
It seems almost incredible that we should have suffered only four- 
teen casualties. In the clear light of early morning on the 8th of 
October my men were all in position and my Company Com- 
manders reported to me. 

THE LITTLE SUNKEN "LOG CABIN" 

My P. C. was on a ridge about six hundred meters north of 
Nantillois, that being the place to which I was directed by the 
guide. It was not a place to be chosen, but soldiers cannot be 
choosers at a time like that. It was a little oblong affair, perhaps 
four feet in the front, about five feet wide and ten feet long, built 
up about a foot above the surface of the ground and covered 
with timber and earth. It resembled, indeed, a sunken log cabin 
with an entrance that I had great difficulty in creeping into with 
my pack on my back. I shall never forget that little sunken log 
cabin, with its dirt walls, and dirt floor, and the shelter-half before 
the entrance to keep the candlelight from shining out toward the 
Boche, as he had built the place and the opening was, of course, 
in his direction. As I said before this little shack was on the 
ridge above Nantillois, and on a direct line between that town 
and the Boche guns across the Meuse. We had no occasion to 
be reminded of this as the Boche was pouring gas shells into 
Nantillois day and night, some of which fell short, and I remem- 
ber one of them burst just outside and we had to wear the hated 
gas mask for a time. 

After daylight I received word from Colonel Love that I 
would be held responsible for the safety of the forward zone. I 
determined, therefore, to go over the positions of the entire 
sector and make a thorough inspection and make such changes as 
might be thought necessary for the safety of the place. Captain 
Sabiston, my Orderly, and I started out, therefore, on the morn- 
ing of October 8th on our tour of inspection. By the light of 



110 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

day we could see what havoc had been wrought on the Americans 
in the attempts that had been made to advance beyond the Bois 
des Ogons. Due to the continued heavy fire, details had not been 
able to police up the battle fields, and dead men were scattered 
everywhere ; some of them were my men who had been lost the 
night before, but most of them belonged to the battalions that 
had experienced such sanguinary results in their attempts to take 
the place. It was indeed a pathetic sight to look at the cold and 
silent figures, calm and peaceful among so much conflict. 

We passed by "D" Company in the third eschelon and on to 
"B" and "C" Companies that were in the trenches newly con- 
structed before the Bois des Ogons in anticipation of a great 
drive, and thence on to the Bois des Ogons. This wood, which 
is situated upon a crest, was literally torn to pieces with shells, 
great trees broken ofif and torn up by the roots, and the whole 
place saturated with the nauseating odor of phosgene gas. I 
remember, when going through these woods I stopped and talked 
with Captain Hooper of the 319th Infantry, the fighting parson 
of Culpeper, Virginia, whose regiment occupied a sector on my 
left. After smoking a few of his cigarettes I went up the road 
further into the woods and came up to Captain Ted Davant, 
whose machine gun company had been attached to my command 
for the operation. I remember Captain Davant talked to me 
from his little subterreanean house. I ascertained from him the 
location of his guns which had been placed for defensive action 
and had him make a sketch of their locations. I passed along the 
wood road leading eastward to "A" Company and to the outpost 
line of that company along the north and northeast edge of the 
Bois des Ogons. From the positions of the outpost lines I could 
see the Bois de Fays and the terrain to the front. I have often 
wondered why we were not shot to pieces on that occasion as 
we were in plain view and range of the machine guns we after- 
wards encountered. Satisfied with the dispositions after some 
changes which I ordered, I passed along the east edge of the 
woods and thence back toward my P. C, which latter place I 
reached about 11:00 o'clock. I immediately had my Adjutant 
consolidate the sketches of the positions of my troops and sent 
the consolidated sketches to Colonel Love. With the changes I 
had made I considered the place well-nigh impregnable against 
any attack the Boche might put over. 

ORDERS TO ATTACK 

The afternoon of the 8th was devoted to patrols to the front, 
to going over the maps and information at hand, and making such 
preparations as could be made in anticipation of orders for fur- 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 111 

ther action. I had not long to wait, for that night I received from 
the Regimental Commander a lengthy field order from which I 
quote the following paragraphs : 

"2. On "D" day at "H" hour this regiment will attack side 
by side with Haddie. following a rolling barage which will move 
forward at H plus 15 minutes at the rate of one hundred meters 
in ten (10) minutes. 

3. (a) Heston and Machine Gun Company Hickey, Major 
Williams, commanding, the assaulting troops. 

(b) Hem with Machine Gun Company Henty, Major Emory, 
commanding, the support, will at H plus 15 minutes keep liaison 
with and follow Heston in such formation and such support posi- 
tion as will minimize losses from long range artillery fire expected 
from the northeast. 

(c) Heyman, Major Holt, commanding, the reserve, will 
maintain liaison with and follow Hem in such formation and at 
such support distance as will minimize casualties." 

In other words, we were to go over the top when we should 
get word as to the day and hour. Indeed, of the day and the hour 
we knew not, but we knew now it was certain to come and we 
must be prepared to meet it. In the morning, therefore, I sum- 
moned my Company Commanders and Captain Davant for a 
conference, and for the purpose of giving such orders as might be 
necessary to have the command in readiness when the hour and 
the order arrived. I shall never forget that meeting. We crowded 
into the little sunken log cabin and pored over the maps and the 
orders, going into every possible phase of the great situation. 
Indeed, so absorbed were we in the great enterprise in hand that 
lunch time came before we realized it, and I remember how the 
7 of us — Captain Sabiston, Captain Gilmore, Captain Little, Cap- 
tain Davant, Lieutenant Pownall, Lieutenant Preston, and I — ate 
the hard bread and canned salmon and drank the black cofifee 
with as much relish as if we had been at a feast. I suppose that 
no one who was at that meeting will ever forget the great German 
shell that skimmed the corner of the shack and threw dirt and 
debris all about it while we ate. 

I made Captain Sabiston second in command as he was the 
ranking Captain in the battalion. When we had completed the 
conference the Company Commanders went to join their com- 
mands, except Captain Davant, who remained with me, as his 
machine gun company had to be withdrawn from the outpost 
line in anticipation of the attack we were going to make. 



112 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

In the meantime the following order had been transmitted to 
me from Brigade : 

"Standing barage will start at H-15. Barage will commence 
to roll at H hour. H hour will be notified later." 

There remained then nothing to be done until information 
should come as to when "H" hour would be. I had not long to 
wait for this. My Company Commanders had not left me for 
more than thirty minutes when at 2 :30 o'clock I received from 
regimental headquarters the following brief but comprehensive 
and important message : 

"H hour is 3:30 P. M." 

In other words, the standing barrage would be laid down on 
our front at "H"-15, a quarter past three o'clock, and would 
begin to roll forward at 3 :30 o'clock and we were to follow it. 
I immediately sent the following message to each of my Company 
Commanders : 

"H hour is 3 :30 P. M. Send runner back so that I may know 
that you have received this." 

Everything was now in readiness, my troops were to form 
immediately in pursuance of the order I had sent them, and the 
disposition had previously been determined upon as follows : 

Front line: "B" Company on right; "A" Company on left. 
Support line : "D" Company on right ; "C" Company on left. 

I directed Captain Davant to remain with me as his company 
of machine guns was to follow the front line companies so as to be 
in readiness for service when called upon, particularly for the 
purpose of consolidation. 

FOLLOWING THE BARRAGE 

We immediately began to get in shape, to collect maps and 
orders, and to strap on the inevitable pack with belt and pistol 
and all that. I remember while I was doing this I had my orderly 
make me a cup of strong coffee, which I thought would never cool 
enough for me to drink. At length I got it down and it stimu- 
lated me wonderfully. I remember I got in shape before some of 
my headquarters, and Captain Davant, my Adjutant, my Orderly 
and I went out ahead. It was a beautiful afternoon, and it seemed 
a pity to spoil it with so much din of war and bloodshed. I remem- 
ber I passed by the post of "D" Company, over the ridge and 
through the wire, thence by "C" and "B" Companies. The latter 
company was just forming the battle line and I remember I went 
in advance of it, giving certain orders and, I fear, cussing a little 
because of its tardiness, although I knew it was not at fault. In 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 113 

the meantime the standing barrage had come down and the shells 
from our artillery were going over our heads by the thousand. 
One poetically inclined might say that it sounded like the myste- 
rious music of a great celestial organ. Indeed they were music to 
my ears, a music that was rudely marred by the discordant sound 
of the demoralizing whiz-bangs (the Austrian 88's), and the 
insistent trench mortar shells that the Boche was putting over. 
Here indeed was an exhilaration of the mind and body that 
thrilled the soul of man, and a thousand other emotions tearing 
the heart. As I waited at the edge of the Bois des Ogons for my 
headquarters to come up and saw my brave boys in battle line 
coming up the hill to meet whatever fate might have in store for 
them, calmly, stoically and, indeed, sadly, I looked on them in 
wonder and admiration and my heart went out to them in pity 
and in sorrow. In such a time as this one knows indeed that 
"War is Hell." 

In a few minutes the remainder of my headquarters came up 
and in open formation, so as to minimize losses from artillery 
firing, we moved by the southern edge of the Bois des Ogons 
and thence, by short movements from shell hole to shell hole, we 
proceeded to the southern slope of the ridge running east from the 
wood. Here I could perceive that my right flank comapnies had 
been held up just in front of me and I established my headquarters 
which, for the time being, included myself and my Adjutant, in a 
fresh shell hole and waited for further developments. I immedi- 
ately sent out a messenger to Captain Little, who was in command 
of "B" Company in the right front, asking him for information 
of his situation and in a short time received word that he was 
being held up by enemy machine gun fire in the edge of the Bois 
de Fays in our right front. I sent him word at once to send a 
patrol through the woods through the right and take the enemy 
guns from the flank, as I knew the general situation of the guns 
from the map and from the reports of the patrols of the day 
before. Immediately after sending this message I ordered the 
trench mortars and the one-pounders to come up to take care of 
the Boche guns if they could not otherwise be reached. I remem- 
ber Lieutenant Zouck as he came up to me with his trench mor- 
tars ; he was full of eagerness to do what he was ordered to do, 
a smile playing always on his youthful face. It was good for 
him, poor fellow, that he did not know that he had only one more 
day to live. I sent him and the officer in charge of the one-pound- 
ers to the edge of the woods at the crest of the ridge to be ready 
to give such fire as might be found necessary. In the meantime 
I waited for action on the right flank; waited in that shell-hole, 
receiving and sending messages and orders for more than an 
hour, as it afterwards turned out, but for a time which seemed 



114 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

to me then almost unlimited in duration, because the afternoon 
was rapidly passing away and the time for darkness was approach- 
ing and I knew that if we were to make progress we must make it 
while it was yet daylight. The direct losses which I sustained by 
that hold-up on the right flank were not large ; only now and then 
a man would throw his arms into the air and fall to the ground, 
but the indirect effects, as I afterwards found out, were intended 
by the Boche to be very much more serious, if he were to put into 
operation one of the tricks of defensive warfare at which he 
was so proficient ; that is, by holding us up on our right flank a 
sufficient length of time to communicate our front lines to his 
mobile auxilliary artillery weapons and to use these weapons in 
putting down a counter barrage on our troops. 

A GERMAN TRICK 

In fact, this is. what he actually did do. After about thirty 
minutes hold-up, he opened on the ridge on which my troops and 
I were located with his trench mortars, those little six-inch 
monsters that shoot around thirty shots a minute, and with the 
demoralizing whiz-bangs, traversing from right to left and from 
left to right along the slope of the hill crest. I shall never forget 
the experience and sensations of that hour. The trench mortar 
shells, coming in rapid succession, were digging holes on each side 
of me the size of the one that I was in, and the merciless whiz- 
bangs were going over the parabola of the hill. The noise was so 
intense — noise of bursting shells, of the hideous crying of par- 
ticles of flying steel, that I had to speak at the top of my voice 
to make myself heard by Lieutenant Preston, who was in the shell 
hole with me. It is impossible to describe one's feelings in a situa- 
tion of that sort or to record the thoughts that passed through a 
mind so torn with conflicting emotions. And yet it is remarkable 
what trivial incidents happening under circumstances of that sort 
will make an impression upon the mind. I remember distinctly 
a Boche prisoner who was sent to me by Lieutenant Pownall on the 
supposition that I might get from him some information. He was 
trembling from head to foot and could hardly speak, and I saw 
at a glance that I could not get any information that was worth 
having from a man in his condition. I remember, therefore, that 
using my limited knowledge of German and speaking at the top 
of my voice so as to be heard through the din and confusion of 
battle, I pointed to the rear and said to him : 

"Gehen Sie hinter; machen Sie schnell." 

The alacrity with which he moved down the hill convinced 
me that after all I spoke tolerably good German. We never sent 
fighting men back with prisoners as we could not spare fighting 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR Il5 

men for this duty, unless there was a great body of prisoners and 
it was necessary that they be guided to the rear. There were other 
men back of the fighting front, less busy than we, whose duty it 
was to take care of prisoners. 

At length, a little after five o'clock (I remember the sun had 
gone down and the gray dusk was creeping over the earth, as the 
days were short at that season of the year) the flank movement 
on the right having overcome the resistance of the machine guns 
in the edge of the Bois de Fays, "B" and "D" Companies began 
to move forward again. Owing to the dusk progress was slow 
and men perforce were compelled to be cautious lest they creep 
unsuspectingly upon a hidden foe, and after a little while machine 
guns began to fire on my troops from the edge of the Bois de 
Malaumont, further on in our sector, and the whiz-bangs were 
coming over the hill in great rapidity and the trench mortars 
were still traversing the slope ; but we pressed on. I remember 
as I started to move forward a heavy clod of earth that was 
thrown up by a trench mortar shell struck my helmet and 
knocked it askew. Indeed, we were literally "picking our way 
through a barrage," as the British used to say. 

PICKING A WAY TROUGH A BARRAGE 

One who has never "picked his way through a barrage" can 
scarcely be expected even to imagine the sensations that throb- 
bed through the heart and mind in such a time as that. One feels 
in the presence of those powerful and death-dealing instrumen- 
talities how infinitesimally small is man, how life and death are 
separated by a mere chance. One feels as though he were look- 
ing through a film into the great eternity and that at any instant, 
without a moment's warning, he may come face to face with the 
great hereafter. Indeed, there is no exhaltation, no haughty self- 
pride at such a time as this. One is all humility. One only 
hopes and trusts, and maybe prays, and moves steadily forward 
with a heart full of sorrow and hope. These were my feelings 
as we passed around the northeast edge of the Bois des Ogons, 
picking our way through the tangled wire and the gas-soaked 
ground in the darkness. 

I remember how much I deplored the fact that it was growing 
dark ; we had regained the momentum of the attack and by the 
light of day I felt sure we could have pressed on. In fact "A" 
Company and "C" Company had made a splendid fight, steadily 
through the north edge of the Bois des Ogons and out into the 
open, storming by brilliant attack and taking a system of trenches 
a hundred meters north of that wood, where a large number of 
the enemy were killed and "A" Company took 23 prisoners and 



1 16 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

three machine guns and "C" Company took 22 prisoners and 
three machine guns. 

We had now passed beyond the Bois des Ogons after having 
overcome every element of the stubborn and persistent resistance 
offered by the enemy. As the battalion continued along the open 
ground to the north of the wood the enemy opened with heavy 
machine gun fire from the edge of the Bois de Malaumont imme- 
diately in our front. It was now well-nigh dark and in this sit- 
uation I ordered the companies to find such shelter as could be 
found along the slope to the ravine running south of the Bois 
de Malaumont, and the Company Commanders to report to me 
for orders. I remember as soon as I had sent for the Company 
Commanders I sought some place where I could establish a tem- 
porary headquarters and make a light to go over the maps and 
orders and things of that sort. We inspected, as well as we 
could in the darkness, the system of trenches beyond the north 
edge of the Bois des Ogons where the Boche prisoners had been 
taken. I recall how we went into one shelter after another only 
to find some dead or dying Boche in it, and as I did not wish to 
spend any time in their company I selected a simple trench that 
had a piece of sheet-iron over it and established there my tem- 
porary headquarters. I had some shelter-halves hung over the 
edges of the sheet iron to keep the light from shining out. For- 
tunately there were plenty of Boche candles in the place. I 
remember as soon as I got into the place I sent the following 
message at 6:55 to the Regimental Commander: 

"At 5 :45 my line was about G0940. My intention is, if the 
Cunel-Brieulles Road can be reached in the darkness, to con- 
solidate there for the night and to rush a line of outposts well 
to the front. Final decision will depend upon results and further 
information as to progress of unit on right flank." 

In other words, my plan was to press on during the night 
without giving the enemy time to consolidate or withdraw, and 
to clean out the Bois de Fays, the protected positions in the 
ravine and the Bois de Malaumont during the night. At first 
blush it seemed an impossible task but time and opportunity are 
everything in winning battles and we had the time and I knew 
that my officers and men were capable of performing any task no 
matter how difficult. At the same time, as will be noted, attention 
had to be given to the flanks, as progress made without flank 
protection might prove more dangerous than no progress at all. 
At length in response to my order Captain Sabiston ("D" Com- 
pany), Captain Little ("B" Company), and Lieutenant Pownall 
("C" Company) reported to me. Captain Gilmore ("A" Com- 
pany) had been wounded and I sent him back on a stretcher. It 
developed also at that time that three platoons of "A" Company 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 117 

had kept in the open in passing beyond the Bois des Ogons 
and, together with certain units of the 319th Infantry in the 
sector of my left, had gone on in the direction of Cunel at least 
a kilometer into the German lines, leaving only one platoon of 
"A" Company with my command. I sent for Lieutenant Ma- 
chette, the commander of this platoon, to report to me in the con- 
ference to take place there, for further orders. 

"COMBING" THE WOODS AT NIGHT 

I shall not soon forget the little improvised shelter in which 
I spent several hours that night, stooping over to clear the sheet- 
iron roof until my back ached. In going over the map and by the 
use of the compass I could easily see that in the darkness and 
confusion of battle and what not, my companies had to some 
extent lost their sense of direction and we were not heading with 
sufficient accuracy in the right direction for progress in the sector 
that had been assigned to us, and I determined upon a complete 
readjustment of positions before attempting further progress. 
As I said before, I was convinced also that I should not halt in 
this position for the night and thereby give the Boche an oppor- 
tunity to further strengthen his machine gun and other positions 
along the edge of the Bois de Malaumont from which we had 
already received a heavy volume of fire. Moreover I was con- 
vinced that, unprecedented as it was, the peculiar situation here 
gave a fine opportunity for combing the Bois de Fays and Bois 
de Malaumont in my sector at night and clearing up my front 
to the Cunel-Brieulles Road. Some of my Company Command- 
ers were doubtful whether such a mission could be accomplished 
at night, but I believed it could, fully appreciating the difficulties 
of keeping contact in the woods at night, especially where men 
must fight for the most part hand to hand with the enemy. I 
therefore ordered "B" and "D" Companies to reform in the same 
order in which the attack was begun and to fall back about three 
hundred yards to where a little trench railroad ran out of the 
Bois de Fays and to comb the latter woods to the ravine between 
the Bois de Fays and the Bois de Malaumont and to report to 
me when that mission was accomplished. This movement began 
at 9:30 P. M. "C" Company and one platoon of "A" Company 
I directed to await further orders. In the meantime I waited for 
developments, receiving and sending messages and giving orders. 
I remember, as I sat in the little improvised headquarters about 
11:00 o'clock, the shelter-halves lifted and the face of an old 
classmate of mine at the University of Virginia was thrust into 
the opening. It was Captain Paul Barringer who was command- 
ing some heavy trench mortars and had been directed to report 



118 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

to me for orders. He recognized me first as he had grown a 
mustache, which disfigured him somewhat and concealed his 
identity. It was a pecuHar situation in which to meet an old 
classmate and I was certainly glad to see him. His mortars 
were south of the Bois des Ogons, and since they were heavy 
and had to be carried by his men who, he said, were already 
nearly exhausted, I told him to have them brought up early in 
the morning and report to me for such dispositions as might then 
be thought advantageous. 

During the process of combing the Bois de Fays some of my 
men had captured a German Corporal and they sent him to me. 
With the assistance of Lieutenant Thompson who was attached 
to my headquarters, I talked with this Corporal for some length. 
He said his name was Pat, a strange name for a German. Never- 
theless he was a Prussian, and I remember how his blue eyes 
twinkled in the candlelight as he answered many of my ques- 
tions. He had been in the War four years and was glad to get 
out of it. I asked him how many men were in the Bois de Fays 
and in the Bois de Malaumont. From what I afterwards ascer- 
tained it appeared that the information he gave me was correct. 
I also asked him the strength of the enemy along the ridge north 
of the Cunel-Brieulles Road, which I knew to be a strongly held 
enemy position. He said they were a thousand strong and a 
relief had taken place the night before bringing in fresh troops. 
This was interesting if not cheerful news, although I could not 
aflford to place too much credence in any statement he might 
make. At length I sent him happily on his way back toward 
Nantillois and suppose he reached there safely. 

At length, the mission given to "B" and "D" Companies of 
combing the Bois de Fays to the ravine having been accomplished 
in due time and many prisoners and guns having been taken, the 
Company Commanders reported to me and I sent for the Com- 
manding Officers of "A" and "C" Companies and went over the 
map again with a view of continuing the attack throng the Bois 
de Malaumont to the Cunel-Brieulles Road. This was indeed a dif- 
ficult and dangerous undertaking ; to comb those woods that were 
held by a determined enemy for a distance of six hundred meters 
through the darkness. Twenty-four hours before I would have 
thought such a task impossible to be accomplished by any troops, 
but I knew that nothing was impossible for the men and officers 
of my battalion. I was further convinced also that the Boche 
should not be allowed to withdraw his forces from the Bois de 
Malaumont to a stronger position further back or to further 
strengthen his position, which he was certain to do before day- 
light. At 1 :30 A. M. on October 10, therefore, I ordered the 
battalion, disposed in the same formation in which the attack 



EXPERIExNTCES OF THE GREAT WAR 119 

had begun, to begin at 2:30 A. M. from a line about the ravine 
between the Bois de Fays and the Bois de Malaumont and comb 
the latter woods, clearing the same of the enemy, killing or cap- 
turing him if possible, but if not, then by driving him back. At 
this time the 4th Division, which held the sector on my right, had 
not yet reached in their sector the ravine from which my attack 
was to begin and I was compelled to ask from the support bat- 
talion "L" Company, commanded by Captain Weikert, to pro- 
tect my right flank along the wooded road forming the right 
boundary of my sector through the Bois de Malaumont. 

The attack began at 2 :30 as ordered. I confess I spent many 
an anxious moment during that fight, and my anxiety was not 
lessened by information I received that the 4th Division on my 
right had previously attempted to advance into these woods in 
their sector and had ben thrown back with heavy losses and, 
indeed, with some confusion, possibly. The woods were thick 
and difficult to find the way through even in the daytime, and 
they were strongly held by an enemy who had made up his mind 
to hold them to the very death. Only well-disciplined and coura- 
geous troops could be expected to maintain direction and order 
in such a place as that where hand bombs and the bayonet were 
about the only weapons that could be used. 

I remember during the progress of the attack (it was per- 
haps about four o'clock in the morning) I received a message 
transmitted to me by regimental headquarters that a barrage 
would be laid down on the Cunel-Brieulles Road at 7:00 o'clock 
that morning. As this had been the line at which I had directed 
the attack to proceed, in order to save my men from the destruc- 
tion of our own barrage I immediately sent word to eac'.i 
Company Commander that as soon as the Cunel-Brieulles Road 
was reached he should fall back 150 yards so as not to come 
under the fire of our barrage, and to await orders. How the 
runners ever found the Company Commanders that night in those 
woods I do not know, but they delivered the messages and 
reported to me that they had done so. I inscribe their names here 
as a testimonial to their bravery and intelligence in the execution 
of a high service to their country: Privates, first class, George 
C. Brown ("A" Company), Raymond E. Pluskey ("B" Com- 
pany), David Rorison ("C" Company), and Private Charles E. 
Reams ("D" Company). 

I remember there was a lull in the artillery of the enemy from 
about 9:00 o'clock on the night of the 9th until about 2:00 o'clock 
on the morning of the 10th. No doubt anxious because of our 
persistent advance through the woods in spite of darkness, the 
Boche had moved his light artillery back, and the lull occurred 
during this retrograde movement. But after two o'clock in the 



120 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

morning he began again to put high explosive shells and whiz- 
bangs just over our heads in the north edge of the Bois des 
Ogons, and a great deal of gas as well, and I was convinced that 
he would soon lower his elevation and drop them in on us as 
soon as he learned that his men were out of the trenches that we 
were in. Shortly after 2:00 o'clock, therefore, one of Captain 
Davant's men having found a dugout just in the edge of the 
Bois de Fays near the ravine, I moved my headquarters to that 
location. It was a splendid place with two entrances leading down 
into it and fixed up with chicken wire cots, and large enough to 
accommodate twelve or fifteen men. I established my head- 
quarters and used it also as a First Aid Station as it was a 
splendid place for the Doctor and his men to work in. I remem- 
ber there was a little German stove with the pipe running all 
the way out of the entrance, and there was a picture of Bis- 
marck on the wall. There was also a large mirror that hung at 
one end of the dugout. My signal detachment soon got their 
telephones installed and I had my place at a little table at the foot 
of the north entrance. My Doctor and his men soon got to work 
and the place was a veritable hospital. To avoid as much as pos- 
sible the confusion, and to make the aid station as accessible as 
possible I set aside one entrance for the exclusive use of the 
wounded. The only disadvantages in the location were that the 
enemy knew the exact spot and he knew that we were using it 
for a headquarters and, judging from the insistent shelling of the 
immediate locality, he had it registered by every gun in range. 
This made the entrance to it and departure from it extremely 
dangerous, and as a front line battahon in time of conflict is 
usually about the busiest place on earth, I had many casualties 
around the place. I regarded the place itself, however, as fairly 
safe except from a direct hit with a very heavy shell or from a 
shell coming down the north entrance. But the concussion of 
breaking shells was something tremendous ; sometimes so great 
as to blow out the candles that burned always to give us light. 

OVER THE TOP AGAIN 

Messages came and went all that night. It is needless to say 
there was no time for sleep. I especially kept in close touch with 
my Company Commanders for information of the progress of 
the attack. At length at 5 :30 o'clock in the morning my front 
line companies reached the Cunel-Brieulles Road and, in pur- 
suance to orders sent them, fell back 150 yards into the woods 
to await the barrage at 7:00 o'clock. I cannot think without 
emotion of the splendid valor and of the inexhaustible energy of 
the men and officers of my command on that horrible night. To 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 121 

have formed the battalion twice in the night under the enemy's 
fire and in the darkness and to have combed those woods in the 
face of a determined enemy throughout the entire night was a 
thing which up to that time I should have thought unbelievable. 
And this was done by men who had been under shell fire con- 
tinuously for 15 days and under a terrific bombardment with 
shells and gas and what not for the past forty-eight hours ; eating 
the scant, dry ration of hard bread and a little canned stuff they 
carried on their backs, with the sleepless nights in the cold, damp 
shell holes. No man can imagine the anguish and horror of 
those hours, and no country can ever repay men for deeds of that 
sort. But notwithstanding the hardships that they had gone 
through and the results that they had achieved, they were not done 
yet, and "H" hour was at 7:00 o'clock, only an hour and a half 
distant. They were to pass again under the barrage and bare 
their tired breasts to the enemy's fire. 

At the appointed hour, therefore, the barrage came down along 
the Cunel-Brieulles Road and stood for fifteen minutes' time then 
moved slowly on and my troops, in battle line, emerged from the 
woods in the wake of it. 

I shall never forget that morning as I went from my head- 
quarters to the position of my left front company. Captain 
Davant and my Orderly and I passed out of the edge of the Bois 
de Fays and across to the ravine and by a little farmhouse in 
the hollow called Ville aux Bois. As we passed into this ruin 
the Boche began to snipe at us with three-inch high explosive 
shells. He put them down in rapid succession, about twenty of 
them, and every one came nearer to us as we came into the place, 
and this kept up until we found shelter behind the little slope that 
descends westward from the Bois de Malaumont. We jumped 
out of the frying pan into the fire, as the saying goes, and while 
we got shelter here from the three-inch gun, a machine gun from 
a piece of woods south of Cunel to our left front sent bullets 
whistling above our heads. We dropped into a ditch for a few 
minutes and, taking advantage of a lull in the firing, moved rap- 
idly up the slope to the edge of the Bois de Malaumont. I 
remember how almost exhausted I was ; with the occasional inha- 
lation of phosgene gas and the loss of sleep and all the rest I had 
little breath for such exertion. Indeed my companions were in 
the same condition. I often wondered then why the human body 
could stand so much. And yet the exhaustion of the body seemed 
to have its recompense in the horrible aspects of actual conflict, 
for at such a time as that, with nerves all gone and physical 
energy ebbing low, there are no tingling nerves to excite you, no 
workings of the imagination to horrify; all is merely matter of 
fact; and I have thanked God many a time that no matter how 



122 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

exhausted the body, no matter how spent tlie nerves, in spite of 
the exhaustion and perhaps as a result of it, the mind was clear 
to see and cahn to act. 

On reaching the edge of the Bois de Malaumont we passed 
along it in the direction of "C" Company. I remember a six- 
inch German shell that came with a rush of the wind and fell 
within six feet of us, burying itself up to the base in the ground. 
It was a dud. I remember as the thing hit the ground Captain 
Davant stepped back and exclaimed: "My God!" It is strange 
how such small incidents will stick in the mind of a man. 

I made my temporary headquarters in the woods just south 
of the road that morning, expecting later, when the attack pro- 
gressed, to move my permanent headquarters up. 

SITUATION ON MORNING OF OCTOBER lOTH 

Before detailing the results of this attack I must speak here 
of the general situation that morning at my front. I had been 
informed during the night by regimental headquarters that Cunel 
on my left front had been taken during the night by the 319th 
Infantry, and from this it was assumed of course that all the 
enemy's positions in the 319th sector south of Cunel on my left 
had been taken also, because the 319th necessarily had to pass 
through them to take Cunel. As a matter of fact Cunel had not 
been taken, nor had the strip of woods south of that place on 
my left flank been taken. This erroneous information was based 
upon the fact that a part of the 319th Infantry, after passing 
over the Bois des Ogons on the night of the 9th, lost contact with 
the remainder of the outfit and had struck through the open 
country along the ravine south of Cunel and passed in the dark- 
ness on to Cunel, where some prisoners were taken and, as I am 
informed, a considerable number of the 319th also were lost to 
the enemy, and this detachment from the 319th (which, by the 
way, had taken a part of my "A" Company along with it) had 
withdrawn during the night back to the Bois des Ogons, leaving 
Cunel and positions south in full possession of the enemy. More- 
over, the 4th Division, on my right, had not advanced out of the 
Bois de Fays. Therefore, my battalion, during its all-night fight 
through the woods, had driven a salient of six hundred meters 
in depth into the German lines in advance of the 319th Infantr}' 
on my left and the 4th Division on my right. So that when the 
barrage was laid down along the Cunel-Brieulles Road neither 
the 319th Infantry on my left nor the 4th Division on my right 
could follow it, because the enemy was between them and the 
barrage in their front and they could not reach the barrage. 

I must speak here also of the fact that we were fighting our 
way through the Kremhilde-Stellung line, which was the third 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 123 

German main line of defense, which was made up of strongly 
defended and heavily manned positions which were supplied by 
a trench railway coming from back of the German lines, and we 
all knew that the Boche would hold this line to the last ditch, 
if possible. Much has already been said and written about this 
great German line of defense. It was upon this line of defense 
that the Boche endeavored to hold up the advance of the great 
American Army through the Argonne Forest. A strong line 
of defense as this was, is a series of mutually supporting posi- 
tions. We had plowed our way through several of these mutually 
supporting positions and were now face to face in our immediate 
front on the ridge east of Cunel with three heavily manned and 
strongly defended mutually supporting positions. Upon the 
map (see Page 74) they are designated as follows : 

(a) A small triangular piece of woods located about three 
hundred meters north of the Cunel-BrieuUes Road, which triangle 
was heavily manned with machine guns and with small artillery 
and flanked by small ridges on either side ; 

(b) A system of enemy trenches about three hundred meters 
north of the Cunel-Brieulles Road and about three hundred 
meters east of (a), which position was strongly held by machine 
gunners and riflemen, and 

(c) A strongly held system of trenches on the ridge and in 
the edge of the Bois de Foret, about three hundred meters north 
of (b). 

Those three positions, in addition to being strongly defended 
in themselves, mutually supported each other, and in addition 
were mutually supported also by a heavy volume of machine gun 
fire from the piece of woods over the rise to the west of our 
sector marked (d), by machine guns in the town of Cunel, and 
by a heavy volume of machine gun fire from the southeast edge 
of the Bois de la Pultiere. As will be observed by reference to 
the map the three latter positions which mutually supported the 
enemy positions in my front were located in the sector of the 
319th Infantry on my left. In addition to this flank fire from my 
left, there was also enemy flank fire from the south edge of the 
Bois de Foret in the sector of the 4th Division on my right. 

On the morning of October 10th, therefore, I was attempting an 
advance upon information that my left flank was protected, but in 
reality it was completely exposed to fire from (d), from Cunel 
and from the Pifltiere wood, and with knowledge that my right 
flank was exposed. The latter situation was taken care of by my 
own dispositions. When my advance began, therefore, my left 
flank companies had not gone two hundred yards north of the 



124 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

Cunel-Brieulles Road before, coming over the edge of the slope, 
they were exposed to a murderous machine gun fire from the 
(d) position and from Cunel and from the Pultiere wood, all 
of which positions were on my left flank in the 319th Infantry 
sector. Moreover, those flanking enemy positions were able to 
hold up my left flank companies until the barrage had passed 
over the triangular position (a) in my front, and permitted the 
machine guns in that position to open on my troops from the 
front. It is needless to say that in the face of this murderous 
cross fire it was suicide to advance further in that flank, and it 
therefore became necessary for my left flank companies to with- 
draw into the woods just south of the Cunel-Brievilles Road. I 
cannot speak too highly of the calmness and courage of my 
officers and men in the face of this difficult situation. The lines 
were reformed and Company Commanders directed to await 
further orders. 

In the meantime my right flank. Companies "B" and "D," 
moving out in the wake of the barrage advanced to the strong 
position in my right front marked (b) and stormed and took 
the same. 

The situation of my troops at 10 :00 o'clock A. M. on the 10th 
of October, therefore, was as follows : My left front companies 
were in the woods just south of the Cunel-Brieulles Road with 
outposts on the road, with strongly held enemy positions in the 
strip of woods at (d), in Cunel and the Bois de la Pultiere on 
their left flank, and the position marked (a) in their front; my 
right front companies were occupying the system of trenches 
marked (b) taken from the Boche in my right front, and in their 
position subject to heavy fire from enemy machine guns from 
position (a) and (c) and from the Bois de Foret in the sector 
of the 4th Division on my right. The system of trenches occu- 
pied by these companies was, therefore, subject to a continuous 
fusilade of cross-fire. 

PROTECTING THE FLANKS 

Reference to the map on Page 74 will show the positions of 
my troops and the troops on my right and left flank on the day 
and hour above mentioned. It was indeed anything but a pleasant 
situation, to be sticking nearly a thousand meters into the German 
lines with the people on either side of you unable to advance. 
But I had orders to advance without regard to my flanks and 
I understood that the other outfits had the same orders. Such 
an order no doubt was based upon the expectation that all units 
would advance simultaneously. Notwithstanding orders it could 
not be overlooked that there was a limit to displaying one's 
flanks. Not only were my troops subjected to a continuous cross- 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 125 

fire from the positions I have mentioned but I reahzed that the 
position in which my troops were located would have made it 
extremely difficult to have defended that position against a 
counter-attack; and I remember I ordered Captain Davant to 
dispose his machine gun company along the general line of the 
Cunel-Brieulles Road to take care of any counter movement on 
the part of the Boche. 

In this situation, however, it was out of the question for me 
to attempt to make a further advance until the units on my right 
and left should be able to protect my flanks. The men having 
without direction dug themselves into rifle pits for protection. 
I went back lo my headquarters to see what could be done toward 
bnnging about a better flank situation. 

Upon my return to my headquarters Lieutenant Merriam 
who was m command of the platoons of "A" Company that struck 
out mto the open on the night before and had, with certain com- 
panies of the 319th Infantry, advanced as far as Cunel in the 
darkness and returned back of the Bois des Ogons in the night, 
reported to me with his men. I directed him to have his men 
take up rations to the men in front and then take their position 
in the rear of "C" Company. 

During the afternoon a barrage was arranged for the 319th 
Infantry on my left to enable them to clear out the enemy posi- 
tions south of Cunel, but either the artillery had incorrect infor- 
mation or the barrage was wrongly placed, so that when it came 
down it fell on a line in advance of the enemy positions, and the 
319th Infantry was not able to follow the barrage because they 
were not able to reach it. The 319th Infantry, therefore, did 
not advance and the situation on my left flank was not changed 
during the day, and an advance by me in the left of my sector 
was out of the question. 

It appears, however, that early in the afternoon the 4th 
Division on my right had secured a barrage to enable it to 
advance in that sector, and I remember the barrage came down 
in such fashion as to compel my "B" and "D" Companies that 
were occupying the enemy positions that I have described above 
to withdraw to the Cunel-Brieulles Road to protect themselves 
against the erroneous deflection of our own artillery. This bar- 
rage, however, enabled the 4th Division, between three and four 
o'clock in the afternoon, to advance to a position along the Cunel- 
Brieulles Road abreast of my front line. I remember shortly 
after this action took place I received a message transmitted to 
me from regimental headquarters saying that at a time to be 
notified later a barrage would be laid down about four hundred 
meters north of the Cunel-Brieulles Road and that we were to 
follow that barrage. 



126 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

We could only wait now for the message as to when "H" 
hour would be, and in the meantime to get everything in readi- 
ness for the attack. I established with the machine guns a tem- 
porary line of defense along the line of Cunel-Brieulles Road. 
My companies had been much depleted by casualties, and in 
order to be ready for the new attack when "H" hour should be 
notified, I reformed my battalion, putting "A" and "C" Com- 
panies into one company and drawing "L" Company from the 
support battalion, which latter company was placed in support 
behind "D" Company, so that the dispositions for the attack were 
as follows: Front line, "B" Company on left; "D" Company 
on right. In support, "A" Company (with "C" Company) on 
left ; "L" Company on right. I had rations and water taken to 
the men, and men and officers alike took such shelter as they could 
find from the high explosive shells that never ceased to fall in 
our area. I remember late in the afternoon our own artillery 
was putting shells on my troops, no doubt by a mis judgment of 
the range and by a lack of observation, and I had to 'phone back 
and ask to have the firing stopped. During the afternoon a 
detachment was sent out toward the left front, and by the pro- 
cess of infiltration took a machine gun that was established in 
a fox-hole along the open ridge called St. Christopher and which 
had been giving us much trouble. 

I remember also during the afternoon Lieutenant Corduan, 
my Adjutant, who, it will be remembered, was taken to the hos- 
pital with influenza from Neuville, returned back to me from 
the hospital. I am sure I was right glad to see him. On his way 
up to the front he came by regimental headquarters and they 
gave him there a cage of pigeons to bring up to the front line, 
by which we were to send back messages to corps headquarters. 
And after Lieutenant Corduan got to me with the birds regi- 
mental headquarters called me by the 'phone and indulged in a 
lengthy discussion as to the care and keeping of that particular 
species of bird and the method of sending messages and the 
like. Lieutenant Underbill was compelled to perform this duty 
at the other end of the line. When the conversation was over 
I said to the Signal Sergeant : 

"Take those damned birds, and if the Adjutant wants to 
write any notes to the corps you can send them." 

That was the last I saw of the pigeons, but the Adjutant told 
me that he sent a couple of messages by them, but if these were 
ever delivered we never heard. I learned afterwards that some 
of the outfits were eating their pigeons and I have always regret- 
ted that I did not use mine to better advantage than I did. 

Presently the afternoon turned into darkness (darkness came 
very soon in those days) and with the darkness came renewed 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 127 

activity of the machine guns on the left of my sector in front of 
the 319th Infantry which, together with the incessant bursting 
of shells from the Boche artillery, and with the constant lighting 
of the sky with "Very" lights, made the night a specter and 
hideous vigil, attended by many casualties, especially among the 
machine gun men and the troops of the support battalion. I 
remember, I had Captain Barringer place his heavy mortars in an 
open space in the ravine between the Bois de Fays and the Bois de 
Malaumont, which was the only available location (he said) for 
the weapons with a view to bringing fire on the triangular woods 
marked (a) on my right front. During the night, therefore, 
I had him lay his guns on the target and pound his six-inch mor- 
tar shells into the place for two hours. 

This indeed was another night of harrowing sleeplessness and 
watchful waiting. And about four o'clock on the morning of the 
11th of October I received a message that "H" hour would be at 
seven o'clock. I immediately rushed word to the Company Com- 
manders giving them the information and directing that all be 
held in readiness for the new attack at the appointed hour. 

WAITING FOR THE ATTACK 

No men who have not passed through the experience can 
realize how it feels to wait for the beginning of an attack. There 
is excitement, of course, but it is suppressed, and there are anx- 
ious moments of speculation and anticipation as to what the 
attack will bring forth ; in fact every moment is a moment 
of that sort. At any rate that three-hour wait was as full of 
excitement and as full of emotion as any three hours I ever 
spent. I remember as the time approached for the barrage to 
go down I sat with my watch in my hand, equipped and togged 
up in all the habiliments of war, waiting to hear the first great 
burst of the barrage, and I remember the exhilaration I felt when 
the great missiles started by the thousand to go over our heads. 
Whether by accident or whether they had information, I do not 
know, but almost on the instant that our barrage was laid down 
the Boche opened a counter-barrage which was the most intense 
bombardment I have ever heard or experienced. His high explo- 
sive shells poured down on us like a monster hail stonn, putting 
the candles out in my headquarters and shaking the place to its 
very foundation. I shall never forget that memorable morning. 
As I stood at the foot of the steps I remember the storm of 
bursting shells was so terrific I waited a few minutes hoping that 
the storm would break, but there was no let-up. I then moved 
out into it with my Orderly, and gave directions that my signallers 
should follow with a wire and a 'phone, and that the remainder 



128 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

of my headquarters and medical detachment should remain where 
it was until further orders. 

Just outside my place I literally walked over the top of dead 
men and a hundred feet from the place at the edge of the woods 
where I turned to the right towards the ravine dead men were 
lying everywhere. I remember particularly a group of three 
that had been killed by the concussion of one shell. They were 
as calm and peaceful as if they had been asleep, but one brief 
glance gave me the whole ghastly picture. All along the path 
there were dead and wounded. The Boche artillery had indeed 
wrought terrible execution upon the American boys. I cannot 
describe my own feelings as I picked my way through that storm 
of shells. One has a mixture of anxiety and sorrow in such a 
situation as that. Hope alone does not forsake one. Those were 
the emotions that filled me as I passed down to the ravine and 
up the open ground along the Malaumont wood. I am certain 
there was not six inches of that ground that had not been freshly 
dug up by a shell and now, as I look back on it, it is almost unbe- 
lievable that any human creature could pass along that place 
amidst that rain of shells and remain unhurt. Yet Providence 
was with me — those hideous, whining things, coming with a 
velocity which it is impossible to describe and bursting with a 
concussion that one can only feel but cannot imagine, broke in 
front of me and behind me and on either side of me, and broken 
steel shrieked in every direction, but none struck me, as God 
would have it. I remember a few minutes after I reached the 
place in the Bois de Malaumont just south of the Cunel-Brieul- 
les Road, where I established my temporary headquarters. Lieu- 
tenant Preston soon joined me. By this time the storm had 
broken somewhat; the front elements moved forward and the 
rear elements followed, so that our barrage, passing on, had 
either reached the forward elements of the enemy's artillery or 
the enemy was in doubt as to his front lines and there was a 
lull in the shell fire. But there was no lull in the machine gun 
fire of the enemy as my battalion passed on in the wake of the 
barrage, and I remember distinctly how the bullets whistled over 
our heads, cutting the leaves and branches of the trees and 
making a noise like the song of birds. This fire came from the 
right and the left and the front and I knew what my boys were 
up against. Indeed, my left flank companies had the same expe- 
rience as on the day before. The barrage in front of the 319th 
Infantry on my left was too far ahead of the troops in that 
sector, and those troops could not follow the barrage because 
the enemy was between them and the barrage and they could not 
reach it. So that my left flank companies coming out again in the 
open and reaching the brow of the ridge north of the Cunel- 
Brieulles Road were subjected to the same murderous fire which 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 129 

they had met in the attack of the morning before, and they were 
compelled by sheer necessity to withdraw slightly to the right 
under the protection of the knoll of St. Christopher, and this 
being untenable on account of the direct fire down the little ravine 
from the triangle of woods in the position (a), they were com- 
pelled to fall back to the woods south of the Cunel-Brieulles 
Road. In the meantime, however, my right flank companies had 
advanced to the system of trenches in the position marked (b) 
on my right front, which had been occupied by my troops on 
the day before, and had stormed and taken the place again and 
in the operation captured a large number of prisoners, but at 
the expense of many casualties in my own ranks. Captain Sabis- 
ton and Lieutenant Russell of Company "D" were both wounded 
by machine gun fire, and Lieutenant Schwartz was placed in 
command of "D" Company. The position was thereafter held 
under a constant fusillade of machine gun bullets from the posi- 
tion (a) and (c) and from the Bois de Foret in the 4th Division 
sector on the right. 

In other words, I was occupying the same position that I had 
occupied at ten o'clock on the morning of the 10th, with no 
advance having been made by the 319th Infantry on my left and 
with the 4th Division on my right having come up on a line with 
my right flank companies. I must not omit to say, however, on 
behalf of the 319th Infantry, that they had hard sledding, because 
I could see when the barrage of the morning came down our own 
artillery shells were falling short on some of the troops on their 
left flank and they were compelled to fall back to get out of it and 
not without casualties, but the barrage did not touch the strip of 
woods to the right of their sector marked (d) on the map, which 
was the position so stubbornly held by the Boche and which had 
given that organization so much trouble. 

THE BLOODY TRIANGLE OF WOODS 

It was now almost ten o'clock. It was apparent to me that 
the triangle of woods in my left front marked (a) must be taken, 
but that it could not be taken by a movement around my left 
flank as long as the Germans held the position marked (d), Cunel, 
and the Bois de Pultiere. It was in these circumstances that two 
separate attacks were launched by my troops against this triangle 
of woods in my front, the first by a small detachment advanchig 
by leaps and bounds under the protection of our machine guns 
which were in the front. In this attempt Lieutenant Machette 
and some of his men actually got into the woods, but he was killed 
and the detachment overcome and driven back. The next attempt 
was made by the process of infiltration preceded by the fire from 



130 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

my three-inch trench mortars and one-pounders. I shall never 
forget Lieutenant Zouck as he passed me on his way up with 
his trench mortars. He was sure, he said, that he could blow the 
place to pieces, and in a short time he was in position and had his 
mortars playing on the Boche stronghold and he had fired nine 
shots and was looking over the edge of the embankment when a 
sniper shot him in the head, killing him instantly. I shall always 
carry in my mind a pleasing picture of the pleasant, smiling young 
man. His gun crew suffered heavily and the position of his guns 
was made untenable and they had to withdraw. My one-pounder 
detachment was instantly scattered by high explosive shells before 
they got into action. The second attempt against the triangle of 
woods was a faihire. 

A BEAUTIFUL FLANK MOVEMENT 

Shortly after noon, in order to keep in closer touch with the 
actual process of reducing this formidable position, and to main- 
tain a better view of the terrain and troops toward the front, I 
moved my temporary headquarters just to the edge of the Cunel- 
Brieulles Road near the right of my sector. From that position 
the situation to the front was in plain view. In the situation as 
it now stood I had one more plan. It was a bold one, but I 
determined to take those damned Germans if it was possible to 
do it. By reference to the map and as I have said before there 
was a system of trenches that extended into the edge of the Bois 
de Foret, into the 4th Division sector on my right, which position 
is marked (c) on the map. One of my intelligence men, whom 
I kept constantly with the front line troops of the 4th Division, 
and whom I ordered to report to me every hour, reported with a 
message he had intercepted from one of the front line unit com- 
manders of the 4th Division, which showed me that the front of 
the 4th had intrenched in the little trench railway that ran near 
the south edge of the Bois de Foret. As my troops were much 
depleted I asked Major Emory, who was commanding the sup- 
port battalion, to lend me a company. He loaned me "M" Com- 
pany, which was at that time in command of Lieutenant Willis N. 
Caulkins. When Lieutenant Caulkins reported to me I said to 
him : 

"Lieutenant, I've got a man's job to be done, that's why I've 
sent for you." 

"Very good, sir," he replied. 

I thought a little taffy would make him feel better under the 
circumstances. I said : 

"I want you to take "M" Company and pass around to our 
right along the swail into the 4th Division sector, advising them 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 131 

of your mission, and proceed through the Bois de Foret and 
take that system of trenches, and take the enemy from the flank 
and rear and then await there further orders from me." 

"Very good, sir," he said, and moved off and got his company 
in shape and started on his difficult mission. 

It was a hazardous move looked at from any point of view, 
but the triangle of wood in my left front was practically impreg- 
nable as the situation stood, protected as it was by its own defen- 
sive weapons and by the mutually supporting positions on its 
flank, but, if I could take the system of trenches somewhat to 
the rear and to the right of it, either the enemy would be com- 
pelled to withdraw from the triangle of woods because of the 
threat against his flank or rear or I would then be in a position to 
attack him from three sides without being subjected to the enemy 
supporting fire from the positions in the 319th sector in my left. 
It was indeed a beautiful game, just like a game of checkers. I 
remember, at the same time that I sent Lieutenant Caulkins out 
on this mission on the right flank, I sent a message to Captain 
Little who was occupying the trenches on my right front, advising 
him of the move that was being made and telling him of the pur- 
pose and mission of the move, and that he would receive further 
orders telling him of the success of the mission. 

It was now between three and four o'clock in the afternoon. 
Having made my new disposition I moved back to my temporary 
headquarters in the edge of the Malaumont Woods south of the 
Cunel-Brieulles Road which was near the center of my sector. 
Here I sat, together with Major Emory, in a little rifle pit, and I 
remember how we went over the mission together, and I wrote a 
message to regimental headquarters advising them of the move 
that I had made. As I said, Major Emory and I were sitting in 
the little rifle pit which was about three feet deep, two feet wide 
and five feet long, he in one end and I in the other so, as we were 
sitting, our knees touched and the tops of our helmets were slightly 
above the level of the ground. I remember an officer of the 5th 
Division came up after a little while and sat on the edge of the 
rifle pit and said that his Division was to relieve us, which relief, 
he said, was to take place that night. There were a number of 
other officers and a number of men immediately around the place. 
I remember Lieutenant France was sitting on the edge of the pit 
on one side and Lieutenant Preston on the other. Captain Sum- 
ner and Lieutenant Vermule were in a little pit about twenty 
feet away and some wounded machine gunners and other men 
were seated in rifle pits or lying upon the ground. I remember 
as we sat in this rifle pit one of the companies from the 319th 
Infantry sector on our left came in battle formation across the 
open space that separated our wood from their sector and poured 



132 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

a great volume of fire into our wood, under the impression, the 
officer in charge said, that enemy fire was coming from our 
woods. I remember Lieutenant Ben Temple, who was also close 
by, rushed out to the edge of the woods, held up his hands and 
said : 

"For God's sake, men, stop shooting us up !" 

The bullets did not do us any harm, but the Boche saw the 
movement of the troops into our woods and communicated this 
fact to his artillery, and in about twenty minutes the Boche began 
to pour steel into the woods in the area in which we were, and 
they were falling fast and furious about us. It was during this 
bombardment that I had perhaps the narrowest escape of my 
life. Indeed, as narrow an escape, perhaps, as any man ever had 
who came out alive. Without the slightest warning of any sort 
I suddenly found myself under the ground as if by magic, with 
a ringing in my ears as of many bells. There was a sense of 
great bewildemient — for the act was quicker than thought, and I 
remember my first thought was : 

"I am not dead, I am thinking." 

After a bewildered moment or two I worked my helmet and 
my head through the surface of the earth and looked around. 
Major Emory was just then doing the same thing, and I remem- 
ber the dazed and bewildered look in his eye as he gazed around 
the place. I think he spoke, because his lips moved, but I was 
too deaf to hear whether he said anything. I tried to get my arms 
loose, but could not, so tight had they been packed in by the 
impact of the shell. Presently two men (I think Captain Wilson 
was one of them) took hold of me and pulled me out. And I 
remember as I scrambled out of the dirt I took hold of an 
unexploded portion of a six-inch high explosive shell that had 
stopped within a few inches of my face, and it was so hot I had 
to let it go. This shell had struck about two feet from the edge 
of the rifle pit in which we were sitting. How Major Emory and 
I escaped being blown to pieces is almost incredible. The shell 
had struck and exploded with its full force against the body of 
the 5th Division Officer who was talking to us, blowing him into 
a thousand pieces. Lieutenant France, with his head crushed in, 
was blown across the rifle pit and killed, two machine gunners 
were killed outright and four others were wounded. Lieutenant 
Preston was struck in the side and in the neck with pieces of 
steel but was able, with some assistance, to move to the first aid 
station. Captain Sumner was shell-shocked. 

I remember as I got out of the hole my legs had been cramped 
with the impact of the earth and were very shaky and my ear 
drums were ringing so that I could not hear a person speak. In 
that condition of mind and body I determined to go back to my 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 133 

headquarters at once where I could collect my scattered thoughts 
and rest my shattered nerves for a time ; so I got my stick 
(which I never forsook under any circumstances at the front) 
and started out of the woods in the direction of my headquarters. 
I remember as I passed along the beaten path a few feet from 
the edge of the woods, a man's liver was scattered along the path, 
and twenty feet out in the open I saw a leg and part of a stomach, 
still warm with the blood of life so recently departed. It was a 
horrible sight that I shall never forget. I passed along the hollow 
that leads by the Ville aux Bois, and I remember the shells were 
bursting in the woods and they sounded in my ears like the ring- 
ing of many bells. As I passed along also I recollected that I had 
left a pair of Boche gloves in the hole where I was buried but I 
decided that if the Boche wanted them that bad he could have 
them. 

At my headquarters I met Major Emory and pretty soon 
Lieutenant Preston came into the first aid station. Captain 
Sumner and Lieutenant Vermule were there and not yet fully 
recovered from the shock. I remember when I went down into 
the dugout I sat down at the table at the bottom of the steps, 
utterly exhausted and worn out by my harrowing experience. 

My whole concern at that time was for the company I had 
sent around the right flank toward the front and for the success 
of the move that would determine whether or not we could outwit 
the Boche and take the triangle of woods in my left front. I 
sent out, therefore, special messengers to get information from 
Lieutenant Caulkins, but getting a messenger to him and back 
to me was a dangerous and difficult task and took time. And 
there was nothing to do but await the due process of time. Dan- 
gerous and difficult tasks of this sort cannot be done in a moment 
and patience is sometimes in battle as important a virtue as 
aggressive action, so I waited. 

I j-emember while I was waiting, about 7 :00 or 8 :00 o'clock 
that night, a code message came to me from regimental head- 
quarters saying that a barrage would be put down about four 
hundred meters north of the Cunel-Brieulles Road at such time 
as I would advise that I was ready. Such a thing I considered 
at once to be impracticable, because first of all, my troops were 
occupying a position (position b) which was in the line upon 
which the barrage was intended to be placed, and second, I had 
sent "M" Company around the right flank far in advance of the 
line upon which it was proposed to lay down the barrage. I 
expressed this view to Major Emory who was with me and he 
concurred entirely with me that such a barrage was out of the 
question, because it would be absurd to withdraw my men from a 
position which they had taken at such a great expense, and il 



134 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

would be impracticable to be ready within a reasonable time, 
especially in view of the fact that it was the evident intention of 
some higher commander to lay this barrage down within an hour. 
In these circumstances I decided to communicate with regimental 
headquarters but this could not be done over the telephone. 
Major Emory and I therefore immediately started back with a 
guide to the regimental post of command. It was an unpleasant 
walk of one and one-half kilometers, but we made good time, not 
caring to loiter in an area where shells were making the night 
hideous. The moment we got there the Colonel said the order 
had come from Brigade and that he had transmitted it but that 
the idea had been abandoned. I confess that the information 
gave me great relief but I should have been much indebted to 
regimental headquarters if they had communicated this infonna- 
tion to me without my going down a kilometer and a half over 
a shell-torn area to get it. At the same time the Colonel told 
me of the relief that was to take place that night, and that some 
of the officers of the relieving division had already moved off 
in our direction. It did not take us long to get back to my head- 
quarters, but by that time it was past nine o'clock at night, and 
we found there waiting some of the officers of the relieving troops 
who had come up in advance to make arrangements about guides 
and things of that sort. After going into those details I remem- 
ber we sat there and waited for the coming up of the relieving 
troops. I remember that I was completely exhausted and found 
it difficult to hold my eyes open and my ears open long enough 
to make intelligent response to inquiries. 

THE PROCESS OF RELIEF BEGINS 

At length Lieutenant Colonel McClure, the commanding 
officer of the 61st Infantry (5th Division), came up, I should 
say about half -past ten or eleven o'clock. I remember he had 
with him a map and a blue pencil and I shall not soon forget how 
he used his blue pencil to show me on his map where he was 
going to place his battalions notwithstanding the fact that I had 
gone over the situation with him carefully and given him detailed 
information as to the strength and position of the enemy in our 
front. I remember especially that I told him of the difficulty we 
had encountered in the triangle of woods marked (a) on the map 
and of the fact that we had counted nine machine guns and sev- 
eral pieces of artillery there and I remember that he said the 
Corps had told him there were no Germans there. As a matter 
of fact there were none there, but he did not know it nor did I 
know it at that time, but it was ascertained on the next day that 
the "squeeze play" made by "M" Company, which had been sent 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 135 

around the right flank had been a complete success and that com- 
pany had captured fifty-seven prisoners and ten machine guns 
m the position marked (c) on the map, and the enemy in the 
triangle of woods, not desiring to be caught in an attack from 
three sides, had withdrawn from the triangle of woods during the 
night, so that we were turning over to the 5th Division a clean 
front which extended in our front along the crest of the ridge to 
the northeast of Cunel, which position of our front line is shown 
on the map (See Page ??.). 

On the map it looks a calm and peaceful line to turn over to 
any division, but, as stated by Colonel Frederick Palmer in an 
article in Collier's Weekly of March 29, 1919, attempting to 
describe this battle : "The 80th passed on to its successor a legacy 
which requires no further comment." It was the very outer edge 
of the great third German line of defense, every inch of which 
was held by the Germans with the tenacity of death. Indeed, it 
was a matter of life and death with the German Army, with his 
great line of communication back of this place, that this line 
should hold, and he spared nothing, neither arms nor men in pre- 
venting the American Army from breaking through. As a matter 
of fact every yard of ground that had been gained was gained 
by a stubborn and bloody fight over some strongly defended posi- 
tion, and when ground had been gained by the process which I 
have described, our troops had been compelled to hold on like 
grim death lest they be ousted by the constant pressure of the 
enemy. Indeed on the night and in the morning when the 5th 
Division troops relieved mine the German army ahead of us was 
like a great flood tide being held back by the gates. These facts I 
endeavored to impress upon the mind of Colonel McClure, but 
without success as subsequent events showed. 

At length the relieving troops began to come up about mid- 
night, and as they came I furnished guides to take them to their 
respective positions in front. This process continued until all 
my troops had been relieved, the last passing out, and I with them, 
at the first break of dawn. 



136 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 



CHAPTER VIII 



OUT OF THE LINE 

I remember as I went out of my headquarters that morning 
the number of dead and dying men was something appalhng. I 
was told afterwards that many of the wounded men who had 
been brought out of the first aid station had died and the stretcher 
bearers had left them there and gone back for the wounded. By 
the dim, gray light, however, I passed out to the edge of the 
woods and up the road toward the Bois des Ogons. Troops of 
the 5th Division had come up with heavy packs in a column of 
squads and they were stretched back as far as the eye could see 
in the gray mist. I remember I stopped and talked to some of 
them and asked them if they had had breakfast. They said no, 
that they had marched well-nigh all night. I was directed to 
leave one officer and one N. C. O. from each of my companies 
with the relieving troops for twenty-four hours to be of such 
assistance as they could. It was from these officers and men, and 
from other sources, that I learned the unfortunate experience of 
the 5th Division troops shortly after I left them. 

It appears that they went over the top between six and seven 
o'clock of the same morning that they came in and that they met 
such unexpected and such violent resistance in the front which I 
had turned over to them and had come under such a galling fire 
from the enemy's machine guns and artillery that they broke and 
came back for a distance of nearly two kilometers, and suffered, 
I am told, in three days' time, fourteen hundred casualties, five 
hundred of which were killed. 

I had previously directed my officers, upon being relieved, to 
take their troops after they were relieved back to the Trench des 
Artisans where, as will be remembered, we had left the men's 
packs, and to wait there until the entire battalion should assemble, 
sometime during the day of October 12th. I, therefore, with my 
headquarters, started on my journey toward the Trench des Arti- 
sans at 5 :30 o'clock in the morning. I had not slept, except for 
a minute or two now and then from sheer exhaustion, and I had 
not shaved for over a week, and must have looked as bad as I 
felt. But I am frank to confess that there was a spring in my 
step and, in some fashion, a sense of joy in my heart, and I 
noticed this in the step and voice of my companions, as we passed 
the Bois des Ogons and out of that shell-swept area with its 
ever-present, nauseating odor of shell-gas and the horrible specter 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 137 

of dead and dying men, joy perhaps that I had not suffered their 
fate. We passed down the horrible hill my troops came up the 
first night under the withering fire from cross the Meuse, and into 
Nantillois, and thence by the usual route to the Trench des Arti- 
sans. 

As I passed along the weary way that morning, I mused upon 
the great conflict in which we had taken part. I had no figures 
at hand, of course, because there had been no time for figures, 
but I knew my losses had been heavy and I knew also that in the 
three days of constant fighting we had penetrated a distance of 
three kilometers into the great third German main line of defense, 
and had inflicted heavy losses in killed, wounded and prisoners 
upon the enemy and had taken many of his guns. This was 
indeed some satisfaction, and it was also some satisfaction to 
be alive and unhurt; but on this morning, I think, sorrow was 
the uppermost feeling of my heart. Up in the line, with the 
responsibility of a battalion in the presence of a determined enemy, 
there was no time to think of men and men's feelings and sorrows' 
and I thanked God for that many a time, but now that the great 
responsibility had been removed, a reaction set in, and I thought 
long upon the sorrow and suffering of those who had been 
maimed, perhaps for life, and of my brave boys who had made 
the supreme sacrifice for their country and were lying dead upon 
the hills behind me. There was no glory in such thoughts as 
these. Indeed, there is no glory in the savage struggle of man 
against man, with its bloodshed and its suffering and death and 
all that, to one who takes part in it ; there is only the horror of 
it; the glory is for those who view it from afar in a glamour 
of unreality. There is no glamour in scenes of that sort, no 
marching to the strain of song and music, no flying of flags, no 
exaltation; but tired in mind and body from the long night 
march, or exhausted from loss of sleep under the horror of 
bursting shells and poison gas. and haggard from no disposition 
to eat the hard bread or the cold, canned stuff, or any other food, 
men go out to take a chance with death, stimulated alone by the 
excitement of danger and death and the deafening noise. Under 
the stimulus of the conflict their haggard minds are deaf to the 
simple sorrows and sympathies of man; but when the strain is 
removed, reaction sets in and they become again mere men with 
sympathies and sorrows and all the kindred feelings that God 
has placed in the heart. The presence of death brings one to the 
consciousness of his own infinitesimal self; there is no pride of 
heart, no self -exaltation there ; relief brings out a heart of grat- 
itude to God and of sorrow for man. 

These were my thoughts as I passed along the road to the 
Trench des Artisans that memorable morning of the 12th of 



138 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

October. I remember when I reached there I sat down in the 
trench and fell asleep while my Orderly went to an artillery kitchen 
a hundred yards away to get me my breakfast. Several new 
officers, who were on the way up to the front to join the regiment, 
reported to me there, and I assigned them to my companies until 
we should later join the regiment. Among these officers were 
Lieutenant Mott and Lieutenant Backiel, who were afterwards 
assigned to my battalion. 

After a few hours' rest I had the men get their packs and I 
formed the battalion and started out on the trip to the Bois de 
Montfaucon, to which place I had previously been directed to 
proceed. As we were still under artillery fire I marched my men 
in squads, separated by about thirty paces. We passed up the 
hill to Montfaucon, and through that historic town, and then, 
turning toward the south, marched to the Bois de Montfaucon, 
reaching there about noon. I remember the wood was literally 
torn to pieces by shell fire and some of the shell holes were 
thirty feet across, mute evidences of the terrific struggle that had 
taken place there in the days gone by. I begged my dinner that 
day from a kitchen of some outfit that was in reserve and, find- 
ing a shelter, lay down to a few hours of sound and peaceful 
sleep. 

About four o'clock we moved out again, marching southward 
a distance of twenty kilometers to the Bois de Hesse, which we 
reached about nine o'clock that night, to find there the rest of the 
regiment. Here we got rations and we bivouacked for the night, 
sleeping soundly under the little canvas pup-tents, while the 
rain pattered down on us all night. 

GOOD NEWS 

The next day I remember an officer from the divisional head- 
quarters came by and showed me a copy of the proposal of Ger- 
many to accept President Wilson's fourteen points. I thought 
then that the war was over and I made an announcement to that 
efifect to the officers and men around the kitchen at mess time. 
There was great rejoicing in the Bois de Hesse that day. 

We pulled out the next day before light, marching southward 
about ten kilometers to a little town, where we embussed for 
Charmontois-le-Roi, which latter place we reached about ten 
o'clock. I remember the whole regiment debussed here, each bat- 
talion to march to the town in which it was to be stationed. It was 
here that I saw Major Emory for the last time in his life. He 
marched his battalion out ahead of me going in the direction of 
Passavant. I started out behind him with my battalion going 
in the direction of Le Chemin, and reached that place about 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 139 

eleven o'clock on the 14th of October. This was to be our home 
for nine days. 

THE REST AT LE CHEMIN 

Le Chemin, a quiet, dirty little French town on the edge of 
the Argonne Forest, will go down always in my memory as one 
of the most beautiful places on the face of the earth ; not because 
it had beautiful streets and houses and all that, but because there 
there was peace on earth and good will towards men. I soon got 
my men established in the old buildings and barracks that had 
been used in former times by the French soldiers, had the 
kitchens put in place, and found my own billet. 

Ah, God ! it was good to sit down with my feet at an open 
fireplace and talk over the things that had gone, and at night to 
take off the clothes for the first time in 34 days and sink down 
into a French feather bed. 

Our stay at Le Chemin was for the purpose of taking stock of 
ourselves, of re-organization, and of re-equipment of the men, 
and we set about this task at once, and soon had the bathhouse 
busy and the drills going and things of that sort. 

It was indeed a time of taking stock, not only of our losses 
but of the real meaning and character of the operation in which 
we had played such a conspicuous part. I remember General 
Brett came to see me twice, and on both occasions told me how 
pleased he was with the work of the battalion. Also the Chief of 
Staff came by and took dinner with us in our Salle de Reunion. 
Indeed, we learned afterwards a good many things about the 
great battle that we did not know at the time we were taking 
part in it. We learned that at the time the American Army 
made its attack on September 26th along its twenty-seven mile 
front through the Argonne Forest and over the rolling country 
to the Meuse there were four German Divisions opposing it, but 
that the pressure of the American Army had been so terrific and 
so persistent over this front, by the time we had made our attack 
over the Bois des Ogons the Boche had been compelled to draw 
thirty divisions from his north front and from his reserves and 
throw them in to meet the American assault. These things were 
indeed of great interest to us, and showed us somewhat the real 
character of the great drive that was being made by the Ameri- 
can Army. Indeed, it seemed that the attack by the Americans 
had compelled the Boche to withdraw his divisions from the 
front that faced the French and British toward the north to 
stiffen the resistance in front of us and protect his line of com- 
munication back of the Argonne Forest through which the Amer- 
icans were doggedly pressing their way, thus weakening his 
resistance in the north and thereby enabling the French and 



140 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

British to make their great advance. As a matter of fact the 
French for four years had regarded the German Une through 
the Argonne Forest as impenetrable, and no doubt the Germans 
held the same view. What must they think now when the Amer- 
ican Army not only battered that line to pieces and broke through 
it as it stood when the attack began, but carried with them also 
the thirty fresh divisions which the Boche had thrown in to 
strengthen it? This light on the great situation gave us heart 
and purpose to take stock of what we had contributed toward 
its accomplishment, and we set to work to take account of what 
we had done. It was no mean part, and we had a right and a 
heart at that time and place to feel some of the glory of it. 

We had advanced three kilometers (almost two miles) 
through the great enemy third main line of defense, called the 
Kremhilde-Stellung, had killed and wounded we knew not how 
many of the enemy, had taken 131 prisoners, and had captured 
twenty-four machine guns, four trench mortars, two field pieces, 
and two anti-tank guns, besides a great quantity of rifles, ammu- 
nition and what not. 

THE PRICE WE PAID 

But we took stock also of the price we had paid for the con- 
tribution we had made to the great cause of the Western World, 
the price we had paid in wounded and of those who had made 
the supreme sacrifice, and it was no small contribution. Here is 
a list of our casualties, including not only the dead and wounded 
of my own four companies, but the dead, wounded and missing 
of the machine gun company, and the one-pounder and trench 
mortar platoons assigned to me for the operation, and "L" and 
"M" Companies and the platoon from "I" Company, loaned me 
in the special operation by Major Emory w^ho commanded the 
support battalion: 

DRIVE OF OCTOBER 6-12, 1918 

KILLED IN ACTION 
Company "A" 

Second Lieutenant— Kirk W. Machette (Oct. 11th.). 

Corporals— Thomas T. Ebersole (Oct. 9th), Byrd R. Fox (Oct. 9th), 
John J. McKee (Oct. 11th) and Harry E. Sible (Oct. 9th). 

Privates, first class— Roy T. Gunibert (Oct. 9th) and Carl M. Hovis 
(Oct. 9th). 

Privates— Thomas H. Bainbridge (Oct. 9th), Doan Kerns (Oct. 9th), 
John J. Klukan (Oct. 9th), Floyd C. Lambing (Oct. 9th), Vincenzo Parise 
(Oct. 8th), Nicola Salova (Oct. 8th), Chester J. Stambaugh (Oct. 8th). 
John Welsco (Oct. 8th), and Chalmers Wissinger (Oct. 9th). 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 141 

Company "B" 

Sergeant — 'William H. Keenan (Oct. Uth). 

Corporals— Dale H. Ross (Oct. 11th) and Leo J. Sullivan (Oct. 11th). 

Privates— Frank A. Brogl (Oct. 10th), Jacob Chucha (Oct. 10th), 
Myer Friedman (Oct. 8th), Ignace Golitski (Oct. 9th), Albert R. Hoar 
(Oct. 10th), Lee Milliron (Oct. 10th), Giorgia Pisero (Oct. 10th), Emil 
M. Semmelrock (Oct. 10th) and Thomas R. Wilson (Oct. 10th). 

Company "C" 

Second Lieutenant — Earl W. Worboy (Oct. 11th). 

Sergeants — George M. Free (Oct. Uth), Albert Schwartmiller (Oct. 
11th) and Andrew F. Vogel (Oct. 11th). 

Corporals — Orward L. Lugner (Oct. 11th) and George R. Miller (Oct. 
11th). 

Privates, first class — Robert J. Dunn (Oct. 11th) and Edward J. 
Goetz (Oct. 11th). 

Privates — Stefan Formaniak (Oct. 11th). William S. Holcolm (Oct. 
9th), Elmer Lawrence (Oct. 9th), James F. McConville (Oct. 9th), Lloyd 
Myers (Oct. 11th), Lawrence H. Roland (Oct. 11th), Peter Schuler (Oct. 
10th), Charles H. Smith (Oct. 11th) and Francis M. W^aychoff (Oct. 11th). 

Company "D" 

Privates — Harry Doeffinger (Oct. 11th), Albert Forinash (Oct. Uth), 
Michael Hanley (Oct. 11th), Ellmer Palmquist (Oct. 11th), Walter T. 
Cochrane (Oct. 11th), George J. Weiss (Oct. 10th) and Anthony A. 
Delbene (Oct. 11th). 

Company "I" 

First Lieutenant — James W. France (Oct. Uth). 

Company "L" 

Second Lieutenant — Daniel A. McCormack (Oct. Uth). 

Privates, first class — Michael Snee (Oct. 10th) and James E. Weed 
(Oct. 10th). 

Privates — Charles L. Blanchard (Oct. 10th), Gerardo Dapruzzo (Oct. 
10th), John S. Dougherty (Oct. 10th), Lynn R. Lavery (Oct. 10th), 
George McKelvey (Oct. Uth), Henry G. Mercer (Oct. Uth), Norman M. 
Mitchell (Oct. 10th), David A. Ritchie (Oct. 9th), Henry C. Russell (Oct. 
10th) and Ludwig W. Staatler (Oct. Uth). 

Company "M" 

Lieutenant — Coldaway (Oct. Uth). 
Sergeant — Forest F. Falconberry (Oct. Uth). 
Corporal — Thomas F. Cochran (Oct. Uth). 
Private— John J. Kirby (Oct. Uth). 

Company "D," 315th Machine Gun Battalion 

Corporal — James R. Overand (Oct. — th). 
Private — George B. Seay (Oct. — th). 

Headquarters Company 
First Lieutenant — Peter G. Zouck (Oct. Uth). 
Private— Ellery J. Stetson (Oct. Uth). 



142 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 



DIED OF WOUNDS RECEIVED IN ACTION 

Company "A" 

Mess Sergeant — William Smucker (Oct. 7th).* 

Sergeants— Edward M. Brown (Oct. lOtli) and Roy Taylor (Oct. 8th). 
Corporals — Roy W. Anderson (Oct. 8th) and Milton A. Zimmerman 
(Oct. 8th). 

Company "C" 

Privates — Henry H. Blaich (Oct. 10th), Frederick Brannon (Oct. 
11th), Charles E. Cawthorne (Oct. 11th), Patrick H. Lavin (Oct. Uth), 
Albert B. Nelson (Oct. 11th), Edward A. Orehauski (Oct. 11th) and 
Joseph Sanders (Oct. 10th). 

Company "D" 

Private, first class — George J. Traue (Oct. 11th). 
Private— Coy Cheeck (Oct. 11th). 

Company "L" 

Corporal — Thomas Bennett (Oct. 10th). 

Privates— Andrew Bartek (Oct. 10th) and John M. Scott (Oct. 10th). 

MISSING IN ACTION 

Company "A" 

Privates— Carl B. Fischel (Oct. llth)t and Albert A. Pinchot (Oct. 
11th). 

Company "B" 

Privates — Frank J. Grygier (Oct. 10th), Pasquale Indinarelli (Oct. 
10th), Andy Machulka (Oct. 10th), Favian Nazarino (Oct. 10th), Earl S. 
RitBe (Oct. 10th) and Stanley Wasilewski (Oct. 10th). 

Company "D" 

Sergeant— William H. Baker (Oct. 9th). 
Private— Teofil Lutowski (Oct. 11th). 

Company "L" 

Private, first class— Oscar T. Patterson (Oct. 10th). 

Company "D," 315th Machine Gun Battalion 
Private— Phillip B. Anderson (Oct. 11th). 

Dead: 6 officers and 85 men; missing: 12 inen. 

This list is, indeed, an eloquent and thrilling spectacle. We 
think and speak of those heroic figures as cold and stiff in death, 
as the world looks on death, but they are not dead. They will 
live on as long as democracy, which shall be their iinmortal mon- 
ument, shall live upon the face of the earth. We know that the 
blood of life has ceased to flow through their hardened veins, as 
the world looks upon life, but it will flow through the veins and 

*The date given after each name is the date of wound. 
fMissing from this date. 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 143 

vibrate in the heart of the rest of the world as long as a just 
God shall rule over the destinies of man. 

I remember, on Sunday (which was October 20th) we set 
about to do something to show special respect to those heroic 
dead, and for that purpose we secured the consent of the French 
Cure and had a Memorial Service in the little Catholic Church 
There was some music, and then the First Sergeants of the Com- 
panies called the roll of the dead, after which I made a short 
address. I recollect how difficult it was to say anything to these 
men who had been through it all, and there was throughout the 
ceremony a current of suppressed emotion that made it all the 
more difficult. I find amongst my papers an outline of what I 
said scratched on an envelope, and I record it here in order that 
I may never forget the thoughts of that hour : 

"1. To pay a tribute to the dead. We lack the speech, by one 
single iota, to add to the imperishable glory of those men who 
have made the utmost sacrifice for their country. We need not 
say they were brave; their lives speak in their death as to that. 

2. And they have not died in vain. To-day the Hun is fever- 
ishly drawing in from the north because the American Army, 
striking at his very door in the region in which we have been 
fighting, has made it necessary for him to weaken his line in the 
north to meet the attack of the south. Thirty German Divisions 
have been taken from other parts of his line to meet the Ameri- 
can attack ; and yet we have pressed on. 

3. But while it is glorious to die for one's country it is also 
glorious to live for one's country. May we not then profit bv 
these dead?" ^ 

From thoughts of those who had made the supreme sacri- 
fice our minds turned to the men who had been wounded in the 
great conflict, and they are here set down : 

DRIVE OF OCTOBER 6-12, 1918 

WOUNDED IN ACTION 

Battalion Headquarters 

Second Lieutenant— Charles R. Preston (Oct. 11th) 
Private— Charles E. Reams (Oct. 11th). 

Company "A" 
Captain— Harry F. Gilmore (Oct. 9th). 

Sergeants— Nick Broker (Oct. 9th) and Elwood Varney, Jr (Oct 9th) 

Corporals-Fred J. Askin (Oct. 9th), Paul D. Baum (Oct. 8th), John 

Sl^^^''J^^''^\,^}l^' ^""^"^ ^- Brinker (Oct. 11th), John C. Chambers (Oct. 

9th) Edward Harrison, Jr. (Oct. 9th), Morgan W. McAlpin (Oct 9th) 

and Clarence Mansfield (Oct. 8th) f k ■ j 



144 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

Cook— Lucas Mikedis (Oct. 7th). 
Mechanic — David Swanson (Oct. 9th). 

Privates, first class— James P. Bell (Oct. 9th), Forest C. Corbett (Oct. 
11th), Perry M. Christy (Oct. 9th), Richard G. Deemer (Oct. 10th), James 

E. Harkins (Oct. 9th), Charles H. Hoffman (Oct. 9th), Harry W. Hugus 
(Oct. 11th), Samuel J. Fleming (Oct. 8th), Marco Mercurio (Oct. 10th), 
Charles D. Ridenour (Oct. 9th), Max L. Tucker (Oct. 9th) and Joseph 
C. Wiles (Oct. 9th). 

Privates— Jasper Allera (Oct. 10th), Edwin I. Black (Oct. 9th), Angelo 
Butto (Oct. 9th), William Boardman (Oct. 9th), Albert W. Carnes (Oct. 
11th), Pietro Chilelli (Oct. 11th), Clayton H. Davis (Oct. 9th), Vitalone 
Di Gregorio (Oct. 8th), Harry L. Frye (Oct. 9th), Antonio Funari (Oct. 
10th), Albert Hornstrom (Oct. 11th), Frank Jeziak (Oct. 10th), Edwin 
J. Keisel (Oct. 8th), James J. Kierman (Oct. 8th), Ellis E. Kesterholtz 
(Oct. 11th), Andrew M. Klein (Oct. 8th), Sam Kokayko (Oct. 8th), 
Stanley Kos (Oct. 10th), Angelo Gobbin (Oct. 9th), Charles H. Laundrie 
(Oct. 9th), Percy V. Leighton (Oct. 9th), Salvadore Linciardello (Oct. 
9th), Joseph J. Mallan (Oct. 10th), Michael Marinelli (Oct. 8th), Antonas 
Martuzas (Oct. 10th), Harry A. McCombie (Oct. 11th), Joseph C. Powell 
(Oct. 11th), Earl B. Pettis (Oct. 8th), Dominick Passanza (Oct. 10th), 
Stelle B. Polotner (Oct. 11th), Gilbert R. Semans (Oct. 8th), Jay S. 
Shiery (Oct. 9th), James E. Stewart (Oct. 9th), Dominick Strata (Oct. 
10th), Galon S. Smith (Oct. 8th), Albert Urbanuri (Oct. 9th), Vito 
Tenaglio (Oct. 10th), David E. Tice (Oct. 11th), Stanalus Tumyak (Oct. 
10th), Henry E. Vernon (Oct. 11th), Giovanni Vankere (Oct. 9th), 
Dominick Vitalone (Oct. 8th), Sam Williams (Oct. 10th), Ernest M. 
Wennberg (Oct. 9th), Watkin R. Watkins (Oct. 10th), Alex D. Yeatts 
(Oct. 11th) and Frank Yablonski (Oct. 11th). 

Company "B" 

First Lieutenant— William. D. Smith (Oct. 9th). 

Second Lieutenant — Frank M. Reynolds (Oct. 10th). 

Sergeants — Thurston E. Anderson (Oct. 10th), William C. Decker 
(Oct. 10th) and Clyde H. McAnich (Oct. 9th). 

Corporals — Leroy S. Gosnell (Oct. 10th), Ernest O. Hennig (Oct. 
10th), Lorenzo S. Hill (Oct. 10th), WilHam Lewis (Oct. 10th), Paul 
Neurohr (Oct. 10th), John E. Reichert (Oct. 10th), Eleuterio Ricci (Oct. 
10th), Harry G. Ripple (Oct. 10th) and Michael J. Sughrue (Oct. 11th). 

Privates, first class — Giulio D. Franco (Oct. 10th), William H. Morgan 
(Oct. 10th) and Thomas J. Singleton (Oct. 10th). 

Privates — William C. Alexander (Oct. 10th), Harry Ashbaugh (Oct. 
10th), Matthew Babinski (Oct. 10th), Julius Badzik (Oct. 10th), George 

F. Bartholf (Oct. 9th), Charles C. Bell (Oct. 10th), Carl J. Beyer (Oct. 
10th), Joseph V. Blanc (Oct. 10th), Guiseppe Buoniconti (Oct. 10th), 
Antonio Calabrise (Oct. 10th), John M. Campbell (Oct. 10th), John CoH 
(Oct. 10th), Albert B. Cox (Oct. 10th), Clyde W. Davis (Oct. 10th). 
Albert J. Edwards (Oct. 10th), Russell R. Emme (Oct. 10th), Joseph W. 
Fleck (Oct. 8th), Ludwig K. Fox (Oct. 10th), William A. Gallagher (Oct. 
10th), Thomas Ganaris (Oct. 10th), Walter R. Garstecke (Oct. 10th), 
Mike Govern (Oct. 10th), Charles H. Haines (Oct. 10th), George A. 
Hamilla (Oct. 10th), Edward P. Harhanger (Oct. 10th), Knute L. Hed- 
land (Oct. 9th), George Hommel (Oct. 10th), John L. Hoolahan (Oct. 
10th), John F. Johnson (Oct. 10th), Harvey Jordan (Oct. 10th), Joseph 
Just (Oct. 10th), William Kelly (Oct. 11th), Nathan Kessler (Oct. 11th), 
Herbert J. Klein (Oct. 10), Boleslaw Klepacki (Oct. 11th), Erneste Lan- 
ciota (Oct. 10th), Stephen Lichok (Oct. 10th), James C. Lynn (Oct. 11th), 
Ernest McAllister (Oct. 10th), Alfred McDonald (Oct. 10th), Henry 
McKay (Oct. 10th), Carlo Madona (Oct. 10th), Filomena Manouso (Oct. 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 145 

10th), John H. Marks (Oct. 10th), John R. Marshall (Oct. 10th), Frank 
Maranga (Oct. 10th), John Mihall (Oct. 10th), Louis Miscovish (Oct. 
10th), William H. Pail (Oct. 10th), Tony Palacci (Oct. 10th), Ludwyk 
Petelski (Oct. 10th), Louis Pfister (Oct. 10th), Riser Rosky (Oct. 10th), 
Joseph Sedziak (Oct. 10th), David Victor (Oct. 9th), Stanislaw Wasilew- 
ski (Oct. 10th), Anthony C. Zelles (Oct. 10th) and Theodore A. Zim- 
merman (Oct. 10th). 

Company "C" 

First Lieutenant— Milton W. Sergeant (Oct. 10th). 

Sergeants — Henry P. Ambacher (Oct. 10th), Arvine F. Black (Oct. 
11th), Clarence Hall (Oct. 11th), William Taylor (Oct. 11th), Thomas 
Walter (Oct. 9th) and Frederick M. Young (Oct. 10th). 

Corporals — William M. Eagan (Oct. 10th), Lawrence J. Holler (Oct. 
11th), Hyacinth Lippert (Oct. 9th), Michael A. Sacco (Oct. 10th), Law- 
rence A. Wunderlich (Oct. 11th and George F. Zeigler, Jr. (Oct. 9th). 

Mechanic— George R. Hilf (Oct. 9th). 

Bugler — Tobia Purchiaroni (Oct. 9th). 

Privates, first class — Frank Boyle (Oct. 10th), Juzef Czernia-wka (Oct. 
10th), Samuel J. Dunlap (Oct. 10th), Francis J. Duffy (Oct. 9th), Felix 
T. Goedert (Oct. 10th), Patrick H. Haney (Oct. 10th), Andrew F. Hast- 
ings (Oct. 9th), Charles H. Julin (Oct. 12th), William Kelly (Oct. 11th), 
Fred E. Newland (Oct. 11th) and John J. O'Leary (Oct. 11th). 

Privates— Charles Albright (Oct. 9th), William R. Bailing (Oct. 11th), 
Edward J. Becker (Oct. 11th), James J. Birmingham (Oct. 10th), Chester 
Bishop (Oct. 10th), Henry Brash (Oct. 11th), Charles E. Cawthorne (Oct. 
9th), Christopher J. Cleary (Oct. 11th), James F. Crawford (Oct. 11th), 
John J. Culhane (Oct. 10th), William Gornflo (Oct. 10th), John Jane 
(Oct. 11), Vincent Kristop (Oct. 10th). Walter Kujawa (Oct. 11th), 
Martin Laurin (Oct. 11th), Wincenty Lingo (Oct. 11th), William H. 
Lloyd (Oct. 11th), James P. McGinnis (Oct. 11th), John W. Martin (Oct. 
10th), Albert A. Morgan (Oct. 11th), Emil J. Nylander (Oct. 11th), 
Peter Panchenko (Oct. 10th). Antonio Pancio (Oct. 11th), Nick Pinizotto 
(Oct. 11th), Harry Riley (Oct. 11th), Dey D. Rutherford (Oct. 11th), 
Giovanni Rosso (Oct. 10th), William A. Seller (Oct. 9th), John M. Silli- 
man (Oct. 10th), Charles H. Smith (Oct. 11th), John G. Thienel (Oct. 
11th) and Harry J. Volkwein (Oct. 11th). 

Company "D" 

Captain — Harry A.. Sabiston (Oct. 11th). 

First Lieutenant — James V. Russell (Oct. 11th). 

First Sergeant — Rudolph R. Menzinger (Oct. 11th). 

Sergeants — James E. Langen (Oct. 10th) and Thomas F. Truel (Oct. 
11th). 

Corporals — John W. Anderson (Oct. 11th), Frederick J. Bach (Oct. 
11th), Joseph Burkhart (Oct. 10th), John L Douglass (Oct. 11th), Clar- 
ence B. Jones (Oct. 11th), Thomas Krzyzosiak (Oct. 10th), Joseph M. 
Moog (Oct. 10th) and George Schloer (Oct. 10th). 

Mechanic — John B. Labuskas (Oct. 11th). 

Buglers— William B. Dice (Oct. 11th) and Stephen M. Wano (Oct. 
11th). 

Privates, first class — Fred J. Karl (Oct. l(hh), Joseph P. Mooney 
(Oct. 11th), William F. Winter (Oct. 11th) and William M. Zandier 
(Oct. 11th). 

Privates — Vincenzo Adamo (Oct. 11th), Julian Bobrowski (Oct. 10th), 
John E. Chance (Oct. 11th), Charles F. Chorheer (Oct. 10th), James C. 
Cottrili (Oct. 11th), Gabrile Destefano (Oct. 11th), Guiseppe Devito (Oct. 
11th), William E. Dunmore (Oct. 11th), Bartolomeo Fabi (Oct. 11th), 



146 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

Bronislaus Fischer (Oct. 11th), John Gorski (Oct. 10th), Anton Gotem- 
biski (Oct. 11th), Odd H. Harter (Oct. 10th), Joseph Herdman (Oct. 
11th), Russell B. Horner (Oct. 11th), John P. Hughes (Oct. Uth), 
Tomase Hyzy (Oct. 10th), Henry Janke (Oct. 11), John Kavolski (Oct. 
11th), Mitrofan Klebanovitch (Oct. 10th), Walter Kondej (Oct. 12th), 
Joseph H. Konrad (Oct. 11th), Kazmirz Kostro (Oct. 10th), Guiseppe 
Lasgola (Oct. 11th), George Liep (Oct. 10th), Carl J. Lund (Oct. 11th), 
Kazmirz Malicki (Oct. 10th), Joseph Orluk (Oct. 10th), Giovanni Pal- 
lotto (Oct. 10th), Angelo Phillips (Oct. 10th), Robert E. Pring (Oct. 
11th), Coy Reed (Oct. 11th), John A. Rings (Oct. 11th), Antonio Rocco 
(Oct. 10th), Adam Ruminski (Oct. 10th), William R. Shackleford (Oct. 
11th), Giovanni Spadaro (Oct. 11th), Kwiryn Szarmach (Oct. 11th), 
Walter Trazmerski (Oct. 11th), Frank Waziak (Oct. 11th), Thomas B. 
Welsh (Oct. 10th), Stanislavi^ Wojtyniak (Oct. 12th) and Jacob J. Wysocki 
(Oct. 11th). 

Medical Detachment 

Privates— Raymond T. Biggs (Oct. Uth), Charles H. Gallagher (Oct. 
9th) and Giuseppe Cocuzzi (Oct. 10th). 

Company "I" 

Private — Edward Switalski (Oct. Uth). 

Company "L" 

Captain— George W. Weikert (Oct. 10th). 

Sergeants— David M. Ford (Oct. 9th), Martin W. Joyce (Oct. 10th), 
George J. Kozak (Oct. Uth) and William H. Loeffler (Oct. 10th). 

Corporals — Thomas Bennett (Oct. 10th), William E. Gernardt (Oct. 
10th), Hatvick F. Holleran (Oct. 10th). Herbert V. Wrhen (Oct. 10th), 
William H. Young (Oct. 10th) and Abram M. Ziedman (Oct. 10th). 

Mechanics — William Baxter (Oct. 10th) and James F. Bolton (Oct. 
12th). 

Bugler— Fred M. Butch (Oct. 10th). 

Privates, first class — Lawrence B. Collier (Oct. 10th), James D. Grove 
(Oct. Uth), Bernard E. Gustafson (Oct. Uth), Joseph McElroy (Oct. 
Uth), Edward J. Morrissey (Oct. Uth), Edward A. Murphy (Oct. Uth), 
John L. Scott (Oct. 10th), Elliot J. Shaffer (Oct. 10th) and Samuel L. 
Small (Oct. 10th). 

Privates — Samuel Burnson (Oct. Uth), John W. Burger (Oct. 10th), 
Joe Coldbella (Oct. Uth), John Cologe (Oct. Uth), Clarence E. Golden 
(Oct. Uth), Llewllyn W. James (Oct. 10th), Mike Kargol (Oct. Uth) 
Hugh E. Lavery (Oct. 10th), Paul S. Marvin (Oct. 10th), Oscar W. 
Schoeberlein (Oct. Uth), Enrico SciuUi (Oct. 10th), Walter R. Smail 
(Oct. Uth), William Smith (Oct. 10th), Cyrus Snyder (Oct. Uth), 
James A. Tiernan (Oct. 10th), Joseph Turoci (Oct. 10th), Grover Voorus 
(Oct. 10th), Jacob Voronin (Oct. 10th), William G. Ward (Oct. 10th) 
and Jan Zazecny (Oct. Uth). 

Company "M" 

Sergeant — Charles A. Cornyn (Oct. Uth). 

Privates — Charles A. Maloney (Oct. Uth), William D. Perry (Oct, 
Uth) and A. J. Smith (Oct. Uth). 

Company "D," 315th M. G. Battalion 

First Lieutenants — James F. Garfield and Harold B. Thorne, Jr. 
Sergeant — John Monzo. 

Corporals— Albert E. Bower, Anthony Gagliardino and William Low- 
stuter. 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 147 

Mechanic — Robert G. Shindledecker. 

Bugler — Clarence F. Robinson. 

Privates — Gordon Brown, Willie R. Crowell, Loy A. Douglass, Patrick 
J. Enright, Joseph Fine, Raymond H. Johnson, Patrick J. Joyce, Robert 
G. Moore, Ralph D. Showers and John W. Vargis. 

Headquarters Company Detachments* 

First Lieutenant — Rufus S. Lusk (Oct. Uth). 
Private, first class— Charles R. Haley (Oct. 12th). 

Company "C," 305th Field Signal Battalion Detachment 

Private— Alfred Murray (Oct. 11th). 

I need not say a word for them, their wounds speak more elo- 
quently than any human tongue can speak of the danger through 
which they passed, and of their bravery and of the noble sacri- 
fices they made for their country. I hope that a grateful country 
and a grateful and appreciative people will never let those of 
them suffer whom the scars of battle have deprived of the means 
of livelihood. 

But I must not speak alone of the men who made the supreme 
sacrifice, or those who will carry through life with them the phys- 
ical scars of battle, but as well and equally of those men who 
took part in the great battle and came through it unscathed, 
with the smile of fortune upon them. Those men suffered the 
same dangers, gave at all times the same spirit and service of 
sacrifice, were exposed to the same ravages of cold and hunger 
and fatigue of body and mind, and rendered to their country the 
same service of stubborn and conspicuous heroism as those less 
fortunate tnen who were killed or wounded in action, and I 
inscribe their names here as testimony of a service of sacrifice and 
heroism unsurpassed in the history of America. 

DRIVE OF OCTOBER 6-12, 1918 

OTHER PARTICIPANTS IN THE OPERATION 
UNDER MY COMMAND 

Battalion Headquarters 

First Lieutenant — Malcolm Corduan,t Battalion Adjutant. 
Sergeant Major — Jay A. Jackson( Hq. Co.). 

Corporals — Leon M. Bazile (Hq. Co.), Howard A. Ganot ("D" Co.) 
and Norwood H. Nies (Hq. Co.) 



*Only the casualties of the detachments of this company under the 
command of the First Battalion Commander are here given. 

tBattalion Gas N. C. O. 

JLieutenant Corduan, the Battalion Adjutant, who had been in hos- 
pital from the time the battalion returned from the St. Mihiel operation, 
rejoined the battalion in the Bois de Fays on October 11, 1918. In the 
absence of Lieutenant Corduan, Lieutenant Preston acted as Battalion 
Adjutant and was so acting when wounded on the afternoon of October 
Uth, 1918. 



148 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

Privates, first class — George Curtis Brown ("A" Co.), Raymond W. 
Earnest ("A" Co.), Thomas M. Kane ("C" Co.), Earl Ivory "D" Co.), 
Raymond E. Pluskey ("B" Co.) and David A. Rorison ("C" Co.). 

Private — Charles E. Reams ("D" Co.). 

Company "A"' 

First Lieutenants — Dyer Merriam and Leonard J. Supple. 

Supply Sergeant — Frank Fisher, Jr. 

Sergeants — Ralph C. Bugher, Samuel F. Cower, Robert H. Long and 
Jeremiah J. Madden. 

Corporals — William A. Douglass, Jack Pallito, Walter J. Posenau, Don- 
ald W. Thomas, Fred J. Trees, John R. Yockey, Robert P. Willig and 
Stanislaus Zimowski. 

Cooks — Hugh Geyer, Frank T. Ryan and Albert B. Torrance. 

Mechanics — Walter L. Buch, John H. Rozuni and John J. Ward. 

Bugler — Norvel M. Eisaman. 

Privates, first class — Walter J. Beckner, Norman Brown, Gus A. Cole- 
son, Daniel R. Downey, Pierce L Geist, Frank Lerminiaux, Martin R. 
Manion, Frank L. Mclntyre, Melvin J. Shaw, Gustav F. Spetz, Louis H. 
Stair, Harry B. Taylor and John Williams. 

Privates — Nicola Ammazzalorso, John P. Andre, David K. Auchinvole, 
Albert G. Baker, Harry H. Barrach, Lloyd Beatty, Charles H. Beer, 
Walter Boyd, Ned L. Brown, George W. Carnes, Fred Caster, Daniel 
A. Cleary, Patrick P. Collins, Frank R. Cornmesser, Robert L. Crytser, 
Louis De Caprio, Vincenzo Di Franco, Gabriel Di Machelle, Thomas 
W. Edinger, Thomas F. Ellenberger, Vincenzo Ficetti, Ralph W, Fox, 
William J. A. Frohwerk, Damazy Franckiewicz, Joseph Gankosky, Her- 
man L. Geisel, Steve W. Gonda, George H. Grants, Lawrence K. Helman, 
Albert Hetrick, John Houghton, Frank A. Jones, Roy E. Jones, Joseph 
A. Karnes, Walter J. Kiehl, George J. Kingan, Harold L Kobaker, 
Herman H. Krump, Arthur D. Lynch, Lewis M. McDonald, Roy L. 
McElravy, William McGrogan, Roy E. Miller, Vincenzo Nardone, Harvey 
O. Neiswonger, Kazmier Obidjinsky, Francesco Quarato, James A. Ranch, 
Peter P. Raymond, Francesco Sciullo, Andrew H. Smith, James P. 
Smith, Oscar W. Stoneberg, Charles B. Stratton, Adam Surab, Mike 
Swistock, Jr., Alesandro Toppi, Fred Trumbull, Stanislaw Tumszak, 
Dalton W. Verner, Mike Voke, Peter P. Wagner, Jolley V. Walker, 
Robert L. Wampler,, Joseph Woodman, John M. Wyke and Hallam F. 
Zellefrow. 

Company "B" 

Captain — George C. Little. 

First Lieutenant — Hugh C. Parker. 

Mess Sergeant — Stamford L. Lambert. 

Sergeants — Thomas J. Leighner and Charles E. Miller. 

Corporals — Homer G. Beck, William J. Dillner, Harris Frazier, Alex- 
ander Hamilton, Daniel B. McGarey, Edward J. McGinness and John 
Sherman, Jr. 

Cooks — Louis Laufer, Jr., Harry E. Long, William F. Schaefer and 
George W. Stocks. 

Mechanic — Charles W. Utz. 

Buglers — Francisco Palmieri and Conrad J. Schober. 

Privates, first class — Joseph C. Henry, William R. Hice, Leo Honcia, 
William W. Kane, Charles T. Krepps, John L. McCracken and Waldo G. 
Sarver. 

Privates — John Adornette, George C. Alleman, Paolo Ballanco, Orazio 
Bianco, Michele Ceraso, Harold M. Grouse, Andrew F. Dousch, Thomas 
J. Doyle, Alfred H. Farley, Charley Fallitta, Casper J. Feller, Thomas 
C. Grant, William J. Gray, Morse D. Greenfield, Richard C. Hannegan, 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 149 

Robet F. Harper, Nickolas Heller, Lloyd S. Hensley, Jesse Hess, Richard 
Howard, John W. Hramitz, Thomas B. Jaquette, Herman C. Johns, 
Joseph Karafa. Joseph Katchmark, Peter J. Killmyer, Clyde E. Lees, 
Charles Marsico, Giocondo Mazzaferri, Elmer Miller, Mike Molchan, 
John Morelli, Urbano Mori, Gabor Naggy, Stevan Ogrizovic, John Paran- 
ski, Tony Paradora, Raffaele Sabatino, John Savanick, Rudolf Schiavoni, 
Charles M. Schnatterly, Edward S. Speaker, Harry G. Spreng, John S. 
Stewart, Albert Stringert and William Wingrove. 

Company "C" 

First Lieutenant — Robert B. Thompson.* 

Second Lieutenant — Hetsel S. Pownall. 

First Sergeant — Thomas R. Young. 

Mess Sergeant — Leo J. Dressel. 

Sergeants — Martin G. Heck, Irwin H. Patton and Howard G. Wilbert. 

Corporals — Paul Dott, John R. Hibbard, Milburn P. Ohleger, George 
Pickios and Melbourne P. Schenk. 

Cooks — Patrick J. Connor, John J. Edwards, Edward T. Moran and 
William F. Rakers. 

Mechanics — Andrew Redlich and William J. Robinson. 

Bugler — John D. Foote. 

Privates, first class — Frederick M. Able, Jozef Adamski, James Allen, 
Albert B. Augustine, Andrew J. Bannon, Jan Bielski, Charles P. Hodge, 
Milton E. Hossack, Joseph E. Kenna, Percy Lloyd, Arthur Lowe, Frank 
M. Luffey, Pasquale Mauro, James J. O'Neill, John F. Raines, William 
A. Truitt, Isaac R. Tyger and Ignacy Trzeinski. 

Privates — John Amsler, Tom Balsamo, Alojzy Bialik, Guiseppe Bianchi, 
Lewis V. Bolkey, Guiseppe Bruni, Thomas Campbell, Lui Cipro, James 
J. Cregan, James O. Debalt, Frank J. Eberhart, Phillip Frenger, Wilbert 
C. Gillespie, Jesse L. Getz, Frank Gilewski, Andy Guidas, Charles H. Hale, 
James F. Haley, Glen J. Hixon, Frank E. Hannsman, Major D. Holby, 
Martin E. Hein, William F. Johnson, Frank J. Lafferty, Rocco Lauri, 
Wiliam D. Mclntyre, Howard R. McMichael, Steve Minski, Michael C. 
Moran, Roy L. Morgan, Sam Notario, Lewis N. Nystrom, Archimede 
Paolella, William K. Patterson, Francesco Pensiero, Sylvester Perfume, 
Dominick Picuto, Maximillien Reffert, Paul Reho, Charles H. Reynolds,' 
William J. Richter, Joseph Rosenthal, John Rosnick, Giacomo Saia, Steve 
Sambresik, Henry Schroeder, Jesse Shorter, Nick Sicker, Clyde J. Smith, 
Hugo E. Spelsburg, Albert Stenstrom, Preston K. Tally, Clyde E. Watton 
and Thomas E. Wyse. 

Company "D" 

First Lieutenant — Leon Schwartz. 

Second Lieutenant — James H. Abies. 

Mess Sergeant — John N. Digby. 

Supply Sergeant — Edward B. Flannigan. 

Sergeants — Albert S. Mattern and Charles H. Wilson. 

Corporals— Joseph J. Donovan, Fank H. Fracek, Joseph L. Garlicki, 
Anthony Miklaszewicz, Jesse R. S. Schroeder, Joseph J. Simmons, Frank 
H. Thompsan, Peter F. Vogler and Alfred T. Wrigley. 

Cooks— Frank W. Marmo, Emil E. Miller, Raymond Shipley and John 
Zyeccea. 

Mechanics — Frank L. Davis and William E. Foster. 

Privates, first class— Harry W. Altmeyer, Joseph Burkhart, Alexander 
Elliot, Harry F. Lindner, Joseph Lipko, Nichols S. Mackowiak, Liebold 
Miodnszewski, John P. O'Hagan and Michael Seksni. 

*Attached to battalion headquarters as Machine Gun Officer during the 
operations of October 6-12, 1918. 



150 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

Privates — Basilio Antinori, Nicholas Boneck, Joseph A. Bosserman, 
Bill B. Bowman, Hayward Broadwater, Dellie Brown, Steve B. Burns, 
Joe R. Carder, Phillip Chesney, Stephen J. Chielwski, Ambrose Christy, 
Lambert H. Clifford, William H. Coll, William A. Colquist, Howard J. 
Cozad, Claud R. Crook, Carmine Cusano, Alexander Dembenski, Constant 
Donbar, John Donnelly. Howard B. Downing, Otto R. Drahiem, Joseph 
Drzymala, Raymond Edevane, Felix Evanoski, Antonio Faroni, Raymond 
Fleegle, John M. Galouzas, Henry W. Gerhold, Edward J. Glennan, Stoka 
Goff, Joseph Golubski, Charles P. Haddad, Alex Harkins, Sylvester A. 
Henger, Kazmerz Ignatowicz, Stanislaw Jakubiak, Joseph J. Janowski, 
George Kafutis, Fred J. Karl, Rak Kiusi, Joseph Klemanski, George Kopis, 
Peter Krammerwitz, Stanley Krasinski, Stanislaus Krasowaski, Elias J. 
Kroustonis, Fred Kudelka, Herbert F. Kuhl, Philip Kusnik, Joseph O. 
Laird, David Levinson, William H. Lowther, Stanley Lukash, James V. 
McDermott, Michael McDonough, Frank Magee, Joseph E. Matthews, 
Edward G. Meade, Henry Meadows, Victor Mickunas, Francis Milewski, 
Joseph E. Moff, Umberto Moriconi, John S. Mouse, Tony Mulniex, Harley 
E. Nay, Maryjan Ofman, Frank J. Paozkowski, Mateuse Pawelak, Donato 
G. Pisconeri, Thaddeus Polinski, Guiseppe Pumpinella, Charles Rodgers, 
Edward Schultz, Carl J. Schwietzer, William Smith, Walter Sobczak, 
Stanislaw Sobieki, Walter Stawski, Edgar E. Stevens, Lawrence Suppert, 
Jozapas Swaldeinis, Frank Treder, Alex Tuchnoeski, James F. Valentine, 
Cecil C. Vanscoy, Kamartis Vlahogianos, Stanislaw Wasek, Samuel Wil- 
liams, Wladystaw Yurek, John Zaremba, John Zavortka and Wiadystaw 
Zielinski. 

Company "I" 

First Lieutenant — Ray A. Dunmire. 

First Sergeant — Walter L Barnhart. 

Sergeants — Charles F. Dinan, Chester A. Johnston and Ruby Tata- 
lovich. 

Corporals — George Gemperlein, John McPoland and James Worman. 

Privates, first class — Edward M. Bish, Martin J. McDonough, Delbert 
C. Traister, Joseph Trent and Joseph P. Vingin. 

Privates — Willis H. Farley, Peter S. Marmo and Lemuel R. Nulph. 

Company "L" 

First Lieutenants — William A. Haley, Jr., Thomas B. Taliaferro and 
Hampton E. Terry. 

First Sergeant — Ernest B. Greuel. 

Supply Sergeant — Ralph J. Myers. 

Sergeants — Patrick Kane, Frank McGrail, George Verosky and John 
S. Wiker. 

Corporals — Lisle T. Beck, George A. Beckett, Sidney J. Evans, Henry 
P. Krahe, Ward McElhattan, Richard J. Rodgers, Charles V. Savage and 
George H. Wright. 

Cooks — Sokratis Chronis, Edmour A. Monforton and John Stoops. 

Mechanic — Christ H. Walder. 

Privates, first class — Harvey W. Albaugh, David Alter, F. E. Andrews, 
Pearl R. Butcher, Lynn J. Caufman, George K. Chambers, John N. 
Charlesworth. Michael Curran, Antonio Dinardo, Lewis Girson, Walfred J. 
Hammestrom, Earl D. Hanlon, Michael Higgins, Elmer E. Jay, Lawrence 
Kregan, Alexander H. Kuhns, Joseph Kunce, Jesse L. McCntcheon, 
Stanley McGranahan, Ernest Marsh, Joseph Mike, Jack Misakin, Leonard 
P. W. Ness, Nello Niccolai, John Quinn, Bernhard Ragner, Louis Rizzuto, 
Frank Roesch, Joseph F. Rudzki, Martin Sarsfield, Antonio Schips, 
Edward Schmitt, Ira J. Short, James W. Soles, Nick Sturock, Angelo 
Tedeski, Anthony Trosky, John A. Turner and Michael Yassem. 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 151 

Privates — Kyle Aley, William H. Arnett, Oscar P. Barker, James T. 
Beatty, Archie A. Bell, Joseph A. Bennett, Charles S. Burney, Harvey S. 
Betson, Maurice H. Blake, Spyros H. Bogazias, Henry A. Bolton, Leo. C. 
Bradley, Henry O. Brown, Walter I. Brubaker, Johnson Cole, John Cor- 
dora, Frank Crozier, Edward W. Eckel, Walter Emig, Thomas Galvin, 
George T. Gray, Clifford Kaiser, Ned A. Kelsey, James Knight, Lucian M. 
Kahle, Panfilo La Marco, Roscoe A. Lindsay, William G. Lugner, George 
R. McKee, Lee Martin, John B. Mathews, George W. Mays, Clinton Mor- 
rison, Frank C. Morrow, Pickney Moyers, Thomas L. Murphy, Clarence 
Neil, Joseph Paroda, Carmine Rocci, Jesse L. Rogers, Roy C. Ruddle, 
Toney Saygalos, John Scanlon, Gottlieb J. Schmidt, George Szhnagein, 
Robert D. Sheilds, William J. Sloan, George H. Smith, Thomas Smith, 
Horiton Sopka, Bartha J. Stack, Martin Summerville, David A. Thomas, 
James Vaicialious, Millard W. Vandermark, John Vasos, John Volutke- 
vicz, Harry E. Weiford, Creed H. Wells, John D. Whitlock and Saul 
Young. 

Company "M'' 

First Lieutenant — Willis N. Calkins. 

Second Lieutenant — Paul R. Dost. 

First Sergeant — William E. Colligan. 

Sergeants — Robert E. Bolte, George Emery, Harry C. Long, Norman 
D. Monfalcone, Mark J. O'Connell, Joseph S. Pfeifer, John H. Theuret 
and Franklin J. Weigle. 

Corporals — William E. Allemang, James E. Beam, Charles A. Brawdy, 
Fred A. Egler, Albert J. Hohman, Harry W. Klinzing, James F. McGinley, 
Raymond Pace, Ralph G.. Patterson, William Reilly, Harold B. Ruth, 
Raymond T. Stevenson, Frank M. Stewart, Paul E. Stock, Paul Tamper, 
Clarence E. Wetsel and Phillip Zulli. 

Privates, first class — Antonio Anastasia, William G. Bennett, Louis W. 
Crane, George W. Fetzer, Edward S. Heinlein, William T. Holland, 
Thomas W. Hutchinson, Hugh B. Lacock, Walter J.. Lindner, John S. 
McMeekin, Samuel J. Mcwhirk, Henry E. Munster, Leonard Nason, 
William E. Neihous, Basili Quinto, Peter Ragazulis, George Sapko, 
Heny Schaeffer, Hudson C. Scoff, Harry B. Torelli, Edward Wilcox, 
James Wilcox and Raymond Winter. 

Privates — James E. Brown, Nathan Caplan, Thomas J. Collins, Edward 
T. Colteryahn, Robert E. Cornwell, Louis Crocco, Howard A. Davis, 
Albert Dunnigan, Herbert N. Ebersole, Albert G. Fischer, William E. 
Flickinger, Leonard Geis, Thomas M. Hackwelder, Jacob C. Hauser. 
Alexander Jackfak, William Kessler, Stanley Kowalski, Joseph S. Kopek, 
Forest G. Kunselman, Walter Lekos, Daniel G. Lewis, Neil J. McCart- 
ney, Damiel J. McClaren, John McCluski, Joseph H. McCollough, James 
H. McKim. Carmine Manguso, Chester A. Merritts, William E. Metzger, 
Michael Moschesi, Phelix Murphy, Andrew Mutzko, John Naccarelli, 
John Osterrider, Harry Pfisterer, Pietro Pileggi, Pietro Polandero, Frank 
Reffert, Ealor Reighard, Andrew Salvi, Howard M. Schroedel, Fred 
Schweer, Thomas B. Shannon, William Shloseky, Walter Shrum, David F. 
Simpson, Frank L. Slate, Andrew Smith, Wilbert Smith, Joseph Sohl, 
Walter E. Soisson, Jacob Sykala, Frank Tafilowski, Harry B. Taylor, 
William J. Tracy, Michal E. Trainer, Raymond J. Walde and Stanislaw 
Zielinski. 

Company "D," 315th Machine Gun Battalion 

Captain — Edward T. Davant. 

Second Lieutenants — Donald M. Smith and Gus S. Smith. 

First Sergeant — James L. Harrell. 

Sergeants — Edward J. Benes, Samuel K. Brammell, Samuel C. Brosius, 
Alexander B. Carnes, Domenick DeFelice, Albert Gogalkiewicz, Swen 
Johnson, Albert R. Laughlin, Wilson V. Little and Henry B. Prillaman. 



152 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

Corporals — Andrew J. Burke, Joseph B. Callahan, John C. Fitzgibbon, 
Paul K. Fretts, William W. Jones, Frederick Powell, George J. Volker, 
Niles R. Webb and Henry E. Whipple. 

Cook — Joseph Bennedetto. 

Mechanic — Rudolph J. Roble. 

Saddler — Frank Vazzani. 

Horseshoer — Boster Dreyer. 

Bugler — Paul Matuscak. 

Privates, first class— Michele Agostino, Thomas Berry. Arthur G. 
Campbell, Edward I. Fisher, John M. Hackley, Earl T. Hawk, George 
W. Hopkins, Michael T. Judge, Vincent E. Kerney, Ralph L. Kough, 
William C. Lane, Earl J. Leib, John F. McConnell, Porter F. Nutter and 
Charles E. Pierce. 

Privates— George Alperman, Tony Altier, John G. Bagley, Cleve 
Baldwin, Angelo Bassilone, Joseph Beaken, George C. Beatty, William 
Blough, Thomas J. Boone, Harry T. Brennan. James C. Brown, John A. 
Burke, Raymond Buschell, Sam Calderone, Gio Campane, Daniel W. 
Campbell, John G. Carlson, Walter J. Carney, Angelo Ciardiello, James 
Craycraft, Guy F. Dadisman, James C. Dietz, George D. Du Bois, Morris C. 
Dunmore, Josiah L. Edwards, Henry J. Egloff, Myrle Eicher, John Elkins, 
Miles E. EUenberger. Abraham I. Ellen, Guy E. Farnsworth, Joseph L. 
Feiraben, James A. Ferari, Perry B. Fischer, Nevin Fry, Howard E. 
Fulton, Harry E. Galbraith, John J. Gallagher, Wilhelm C. Coldbach, 
Israel Goldmen, John B. Gorman, Walter M. Hogan, James W. Jack, 
Monroe M. Kelley, Byron J. Kio, Joseph Kowalski, Herman L. Lange, 
Merwin Lentz, Ernest G. Lumsden, Steele B. Lydic, Stanislaw Macie- 
jewski, Charles McLafferty. Roy D. McColIin, Robert J. McNeilley, Frank 
Mess, Thomas J. Michaels, Claude L. Morris, Moschos N. Moschides, 
Michael Malkern. Arthur E. Neilson, George H. Palneter, Leo. M. Proger- 
son, Edgar L. Reichenbach, Whorley Rhoten, Raymond R. Robb, George 
T. Rodgers, Arthur J. Sayers, Jacob E. Shaver, Harry H. Shaw, Lawrence 
B. Singer, ' Lawrence B. Sloan, Carl B. Swanson, Stanley D. Terrey, 
Edgar L. Townsend, Vincent E. Troxell, Wilber F. Turner, Antonio 
Valent, Frederick E. Weir, James B. Wells, Charles A. Whiteman and 
Charles E. Whitman. 

Battalion Transport Detachment 

First Lieutenant— Walter A. Sorensen ("C" Co.), Battalion Transport 
Officer. 

Second Lieutenant— Frank W. McKean, Battalion Supply Officer. 

Sergeants— John J. Coyne (Supp. Co.) and Frank Morrison ("B" Co.). 

Corporals— Frank D. Flynn ('"A" Co.), Joseph Pekoski ("D" Co.) 
and Wilbert J. Stewart (Supp. Co.). 

Horseshoer— Howard W. Morton (Supp. Co.). 

Saddler— George Dineka (Supp. Co.). 

Cook— John G. Bentz (Supp. Co.). 

Wagoners— Percy E. Caldwell (Supp. Co.), Daniel M. Cavanaugh 
(Supp. Co.), Herbert Christner (Supp. Co.), Henry F. Cleer (Supp. 
Co.), John W. Colgan (Supp. Co.), Linus J. Donahue (Supp. Co.), Austm 
Rricksson (Supp. Co.), Edward Grimm (Supp. Co.), Lloyd Hudson 
(Supp Co.), Alexander Jackson (Supp. Co.), Frank L. Jones (Supp. 
Co) Elmer R. Kepple (Supp. Co.), Joseph J. Marous (Supp. Co.), 
P.ernard McGinty. HI (Supp. Co.), Otto Schatz (Supp. Co.), Andrew J. 
Stashick (Supp. Co.), Elmer G. Strasler (Supp. Co.) and Lawrence Sul- 
livan (Supp. Co.). ^ TT , . Tir-,,- 

Privates, first class— Harry W. Adams, Harry C. Hubb. William H. 

Privates— Lawrence F. Brannen ("D" Co.), Edward Buxton ("B" 

Co) Michael Curry ("B" Co.), Harold W. Dettner ("C" Co.), Daniel 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 153 

Flannery (Supp. Co.), Maurice Hartnett ("C" Co.), Frank Kolenda ("C" 
Co.), Carmine Lingobardo ("A" Co.), Edward B. Myers ("D" Co.), 
Angelo Paradiso ("C" Co.), Levin T. Phillips ("D" Co.), Emanuel 
Piazze ("B" Co.). John Prutsok ("B" Co.), Herman F. Reiser ("C" Co.), 
John Rutcki ("B" Co.), Oscar VV. Sletton ("D" Co.), Herbert O. Speer 
("C" Co.), Max Szarmach ("D" Co.), Antonio Vilardi ("A" Co.), Albert 
L. Wagner ("B" Co.) and James E. Whiteman ("A" Co.). 

Medical Detachment 

Major — Spooner. 

First Lieutenant — Hinton J. Baker. 

Sergeant — George E. Black. 

Privates — William H. Anthony, Norman Frey, Rudie Hirth, J. Frank 
Lambert, William McKinley, Russell W. Mahon, Warren J. Milner, James 
F. Mitchell, Nicholas G. Roth and Gregorio Zapanta. 

Signal Detachment 

Sergeants — Stephen J. Cushion and Lawrence S. Letzkus. 

Corporals — John Freese, Owen B. Hannon, Jacob Lenhart and James P. 
Thomas. 

Privates, first class — Harry W. Adams, Harry C. Hubb, William H. 
McChesney, Freidel Rosenquist and Homer T. Whitehead. 

Privates — Daniel A. Bailey, William S. Bunting. Harry A. Dean, John 
P. Larkin and Guy R. Schwartz. 

One-Pounder Detachment 

Sergeant — Sherman F. Sumner. 
Wagoner — Thomas J. Savage. 

Privates, first class — C. A. Swanson, Joseph G. Weisser and Goodloe 
Woodford. 

Privates — James B. Dugan and Ellery J. Stetson. 

Trench Mortar Detachment 

Sergeants— H. W. Frye, Joseph Harris and Frederick Panthel. 

Corporals — Joseph Cerra, John Desroche, John Gephardt, Edward 
Earned, John Miljus and Roy Van Sickle. 

Privates, first class — Michael Walsh. 

Privates — W. O. Bailey, Oakley J. Bowen, David Eaton, William 
Gieiger, Ralph Getty, John J. Joint, John Kelleher, Dwight Kinser, Edward 
K. Luce, Herman G. Martin, William Newbauer, Hugh O'Hara. John 
Patikas, William Puctha, Gerald Reynolds, Bernard Scheer, Frank P. 
Steele, Thomas Weinell and Fred Wigand. 

Battalion S. O, S.* Section 

Second Lieutenant — Charles R. Preston, Battalion S. O. S. Officer. 

Sergeant — Jeremiah J. Madden ("A" Co.), Senior Sergeant. 

Sergeants— William H. Baker ("D" Co.), Martin G. Heck ("C" Co.) 
and Fred M. Young ("C" Co.). 

Corporals— Morgan McAlpin ("A" Co.), Daniel B. McGary (''B" 
Co.) and George Pickios ("C" Co.). 

Privates, first class — Harry N. Altmeyer ("D" Co.), Harry W. Hugus 
("A" Co.), William Hice ("B" Co.), Charles H. Julin ("C" Co.), Wil- 
liam W. Kane ("B" Co.), Charles T. Krepps ("B" Co.), Frank M. Luf- 
fey ("C" Co.). Edward G. Meade ("D" Co.), John L. McCracken ("B" 
Co.), James J. O'Neill ("C" Co.), Waldo G. Sarver ("B" Co.). Melvin 

*Snipers, Observers and Scouts. 



154 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

J. Shaw ("A" Co.), Louis Stair ("A" Co.) and Harry B. Taylor ("A" 
Co.). 

Privates — Haywood S. Broadwater ("D" Co.), Lambert H. Clifford 
("D" Co.), Ralph W. Fox ("A" Co.), Richard Howard ("B" Co.), and 
Joseph Martin ( C" Co.). 

It is indeed a peculiar sense of pride and sorrow that comes 
over me as I contemplate this list of men who were killed or 
wounded in the great action above Nantillois and of those brave 
men who fortunately passed through it unharmed. But retrospect 
robs the three days' battle of some of its most appalling aspects. 
Even now I am not able to feel the real horror of it, and I never 
have been able to describe it as it really was, nor has any one 
been able to do so : and no one, therefore, except the man who 
has been through it will ever be able to understand the anguish 
of mind and body, the priceless sacrifice of that three days of 
battle. We can now, in hazy retrospect, sitting before a cheerful 
fire in a comfortable billet, think and speak of the soldier's body, 
emaciated from fatigue and from the lack of sleep and food, and 
indeed, from the lack of desire to sleep and the appetite to eat, 
and of all the night vigil full of anxious waiting in the cold, damp, 
shell hole for the dawn, not knowing but what the next horrible, 
whining thing will tear him into a million pieces ; of the anguish 
of dying comrades tugging at the heart — we may think of these 
things and many other things now, but they are merely thoughts ; 
time and circumstances have clothed them in a filmy haze of mere 
dulled recollection, stripped of all their horrible reality, and we 
shall never see nor feel it all again until fatigue through the day 
and night actually brings exhaustion to the body, until the nos- 
trils are filled with the stifling, stinking, poisonous gas ; until the 
body shivers and shakes in the cold, damp wind, and broken steel 
whines about the head, and life hangs by a thread — until we suffer 
the actual physical pangs of those horrors again, the days that I 
have spoken of will be a mere memory. Indeed, God is to be 
thanked that time dulls the memory of such horrors as these. 

And yet, no matter how much of the horror time may efface, 
neither time nor circumstance, nor any other thing, can efface 
or lessen the sense and feeling of the inextinguishable debt that 
the people of America owe to those brave and heroic men who 
passed through that three days of hell on earth, plodding and 
wading through the third main German line of defense, offering 
indeed their very bodies, their very lives, that liberty and the 
civilization of the West might live upon the face of the earth. 
And there was nothing spectacular about those men ; there was, 
with them, no beating of drums, no unfurling of banners, no 
loud noise, no mere trifling sacrifice of some small comfort or 
luxury of life; thev went with their very bodies to meet the lead 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 155 

and the steel of the enemies of their country, and they tore down 
his strongholds of defense, and, with their very hands, they cap- 
tured him and they killed him, and compelled him to capitulate 
and bring peace again to a troubled world ; this is what they did 
and no word from me can add to the glory of their deeds. 

Any man may be proud to find his name recorded here. 1 
have often thought that the men who passed through those three 
days of battle should have some insignia as a mark of distinction 
among their fellows in the world, but that is not es^^ential. Those 
men have indeed achieved for themselves a glory which no army 
or government can by a mere fiat add to or take from one jot 
or tittle and it should be a sufficient honor for any man to be able 
to say, "I went over the top at the Bois des Ogons on October 
9th." 

But to get back to the thread of events, the usual work went 
on at Le Chemin. I remember about two hundred men — for the 
most part raw recruits who had never fired a rifle — were assigned 
to me there, and I hastily constructed a rifle range so that they 
might get some practice in the use of that weapon. 

SICKNESS 

The weather was fine in those crisp October days, just like 
it used to be in Indian summer in Virginia, and the cool dry air, 
full of oxygen, revived the tired bodies and brought color to the 
cheeks of men. Strange to say, however, that notwithstanding the 
beautiful weather and the comfortable place to sleep and the 
warm food and all that, diarrhoea developed amongst the men ; a 
few had it at the front and here, after four or five days, many 
other cases developed and there were perhaps, all told, fifty or 
sixty of them. I remember I established an infirmary in one of 
the frame barracks and tried to avoid sending my men to the 
hospital, by giving them special treatment by the medical detach- 
ment ; but they were not able to cope with the trouble. The doc- 
tors were always in doubt as to the cause of the malady, but the 
prevailing opinion was that it was caused by the men eating hot 
food after their bodies had been in an exhausted condition from 
cold and exposure at the front and not able to digest it. I have 
always had an idea, though not a doctor, that the inhalation of 
poisonous gas had something to do with it — a slight mucous get- 
ting from the lungs to the stomach by coughing up stuflf. 

Whatever its cause I had occasion to know that it totally 
unfitted one for any duty, as I was taken down with it myself on 
the 20th of October. I have unpleasant recollections yet of the 
bismuth and calomel and boiled milk. 

On the night of October 22d word came from regimental 
headquarters that the battalion would move out early the next 



156 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

morning and march to a town the name of which I have forgotten, 
where it would embuss for an unknown destination. We thought, 
though, it was to a training area further back, because we did not 
think we would be taken back into the line in our present depleted 
condition. On the early morrow, therefore, the battalion moved 
out of Le Chemin, but I could not follow it, of course ; and ambu- 
lances came for me and for my men who were in the infirmary 
and took us to the hospital. 

IN THE HOSPITAL 

The ambulances reached the Evacuation Hospital at Fleury in 
the late afternoon of October 23d and on the same night I remem- 
ber I was carried by two husky darkies along the platform and 
hung up in one of the racks of a Red Cross train that left that 
night for I knew not where. On the way, however, I found out 
that the train was bound for the base hospital at Tours, which 
latter place we reached on the night of the 24th. I remained in 
the hospital at Tours for five days and then started on my way 
back to the front. 

It is an easy matter to get into an army hospital but it is a 
much more difficult thing to get back to your outfit after having 
been discharged. The difficulty lies mainly in the fact that most 
outfits in time of war are on the move, and on that account the 
Government established what are called Regulating Stations that 
are supposed to know the movements of all troops in certain 
areas. It is through the Regulating Stations that you are sent in 
succession, and by the process of elimination you ultimately reach 
the Regulating Station that knows where your outfit is located. 
After leaving the hospital at Tours, therefore, I was sent to Le 
Mans where I received orders to report to the Regulating Station 
at Is-sur-Tille ; at the latter place I got orders to report to St. 
Dizier, and then to Froidus, where I learned that my battalion 
was in the line. Traveling over French railways in time of war 
is bad enough, but from Froidus northward in the direction of 
my outfit traveling was done by foot, by truck, by automobile or 
by whatever means could be found, as railroads do not operate 
in that area. As my outfit had taken part in the drive of 
November 1st, as I afterwards learned, and were rapidly pursuing 
the Germans in the great Third Phase of the Meuse-Argonne 
Battle, the further I went the further they seemed away. At 
length about 9:00 o'clock on the morning of November 6th 
I joined the regiment while it was bivouacked in a hollow just 
south of Vaux, north of Buzancy. 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 157 



CHAPTER IX 



BACK AT THE FRONT AGAIN 

I remember as I passed along the road near this place in an 
ammunition truck my old friend Tydings hailed me and pointed 
out the place where the regiment was camped. As I went into 
the camp the Colonel came up to me and said: "God bless your 
soul, I am glad to see you. We are just waiting for orders to 
move forward and your battalion is in the lead this time," which 
of course was cheerful news to a man just out of the hospital. 
We went over the maps and the situation together and I then went 
to my headquarters, a hole under the edge of the hill, to await 
further orders. I remember that night I had my Orderly bring 
in some hot water in a huge iron German pot that Lieutenant 
Sorensen had found somewhere, and I took a bath and had a 
change of underwear, because in the hospital I had found one 
of those little animals that stick by a soldier closer than a brother, 
called a cootie, and I was extremely anxious to part with his kind. 
I remember also that during this operation the Boche put down 
some heavy shells on the road above us, but outside of that there 
was no sign of conflict in that little valley. 

We waited all the next day for orders, but none came ; but at 
night they came, orders not to move forward, but to move back. 
It is stating it mildly to say that the men were not unhappy in 
that camp that night. On the morrow, therefore, which was the 
8th of November, we struck tents and rolled packs and what not 
and started on the great hike of a hundred and fifty miles ; out 
of the line and out of the war. 

Before I follow that never-to-be-forgotten march, however, I 
wish to insert here a statement of the movement and activity of 
my battalion from the time it left me at Le Chemin on October 
23d until I rejoined it on November 6th in the Vaux wood, which 
statement is copied from a "Brief History of the Battalion," pre- 
pared by Lieutenant Schwartz and published in the Battalion 
Review : 

"We moved out of Le Chemin on the 22d of October. Major 
Williams, being sick, was left to be taken to the hospital, and 
Captain George C. Little was in command of the battalion. A 
rumor to the effect that we were to go further back for replace- 
ment and training was soon controverted by fact. We embussed 
in French "camions" and moved directly north. After a short 
while we left civilization behind and began to see again the fallen 



158 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

walls and the torn roads, then we heard the boom of guns and 
knew that we were going into the line again. 

"We debussed near the town of La Chalade on the same after- 
noon, and after a short wait on the road the cokmin moved into 
the woods. Orders were given to throw up temporary shelter, 
as it was not expected that we would spend much time in those 
woods. Some of the men were fortunate enough to get in some 
of the small dugouts which were to be found in this forest, but 
for the most part the battalion slept in pup-tents. This wood 
forms a part of the Argonne Forest and is about ten miles south 
of Grand Pre, which changed hands several times while we were 
in the woods. We were close enough to the front to hear the fre- 
quent barrages which were put down and we judged that the 
82d Division, which was in the front, was having some real 
action. 

"About one hundred recruits joined the battalion while we 
were located here, and also at the same place we received the 
Browning Automatic Rifles, replacing the unwieldy French Chau- 
chat which the men carried. 

"At this time the exchange of notes between President Wilson 
and the German Minister were being published. Each day we 
got new rumors of abdication, peace, etc., and we watched with 
much anxiety the columns of the New York Herald when we 
could get a copy from some passing truck driver. 

"Even after the battalion had been fully supplied with ammu- 
nition, grenades, etc., and after the battle maps showing the 
positions which we were to occupy had been received, few believed 
that we would get into action, for our units were badly depleted 
and we had been filled up with raw recruits. We felt that it 
would be unreasonable to expect us to get into action in that con- 
dition. 

"We continued to drill and to take instruction in the use of 
the new automatic weapon until October 28th, when orders were 
received to move. Our columns were formed and started towards 
the front, but when we reached the edge of the wood, the orders 
were countermanded and we moved back into the forest. On 
the following day orders were again received to move forward. 
We formed again and moved out ; striking the main road at La 
Chalade, we moved on up toward the lines. 

"The column moved along the line which led through the 
Argonne Forest and the Bois d'Apremont, and, passing through 
Fleville, took up a position in reserve about two kilometers north 
of that city, relieving all but the outpost elements of the 82d 
Division. We stayed in this position on the night of October 
30th, and all the following day. 

"In the order of attack the Third Battalion was to be the 
attacking unit, with the Second Battalion in support, and the First 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 159 

Battalion in reserve. Two Platoons of "D" Company were to 
constitute the Moppers Up for the attacking battalion ; "C" Com- 
pany was to furnish all carrying parties for ammunition and 
rations; and "A" Company was assigned to do combat liaison 
between the 80th Division and the 77th Division on our left, so 
that while this battalion was considered in reserve, "A," "C" and 
"D" companies were scheduled for front or near-front line 
action. 

"The Third Battalion, plus the two platoons from "D" Com- 
pany and all of "A" Company moved forward on the night of 
October 31st, and took up their advance positions. By midnight 
all units were in position and ready for the attack. 

"At 3 :30 A. M. the heavies opened up a barrage and kept up 
their destructive fire for two hours, when they were joined by the 
three-inch pieces. The 82d Division was putting down the bar- 
rage for our attack, and it can be said for them that it was mar- 
velously accurate and effective. The first wave of the front line 
companies formed behind this barrage and began their advance 
(5:42 A. M.) in liaison with the Marines, on our right and the 
77th Division on the left. 

"At 6 :30 A. M. the First Battalion moved out of its positions 
and advanced, finally taking cover from a fierce counter shelling 
in a small ravine about 500 meters north of the starting point. 
Here they met part of the support whose advance was held up. 

"In the front line, the Third Battalion came upon stubborn 
resistance immediately upon their stepping ofT. For the purpose 
of safety, the barrage had been placed 300 meters from the par- 
allel of departure. Enemy machine guns had taken position in 
front of this barrage line, and upon the advance of our troops 
opened fire. Thus our front line companies found themselves 
without artillery support and faced with the proposition of throw- 
ing personnel against material. After a splendid attack they broke 
through, but were again held up by machine gun fire from the 
north end of Rau aux Pierres and from the woods around Hill 
214. They finally broke through this resistance. Once past this 
point, they advanced rapidly and reached their first and second 
objective before nightfall. 

"The following morning the First Battalion was ordered for- 
ward and toward the right, into the 319th Infantry sector, with 
the purpose of enabling a flanking movement. The 77th Division 
had failed to make any material advance, and the flanking move- 
ment was planned to relieve the pressure at this point. 

"On the morning of November 2d, all plans of attack were 
changed. It was reported that the Hun was withdrawing along 
the entire line and every effort was being made to push our troops 
forward in order to keep contact with the enemy. The flanking 
movement by the 319th Infantry had been successful and the 



160 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

units were formed again for moving forward. This was accom- 
plished at noon. From this time on practically no infantry resist- 
ance was met by our troops, and they moved forward as fast as 
the terrain would permit. 

"The First Battalion moved into Imecourt and then to the 
small wood north of this village. Here "A" Company reported 
back to the battalion, having finished their liaison work with the 
front line troops. The Moppers Up of "D" Company and all 
carrying details of "C" Company returned and the battalion was 
formed. 

"On the morning of November 4th we moved on to Buzancy, 
passing in column of squads through an area which had been but 
two days previous the bloodiest battle field of the sector. So 
rapid had been the retreat of the Germans that we were already 
out of artillery range. Though the bodies of dead Germans lay 
all about, Imecourt, Sivry-le-Buzancy and Buzancy were already 
back areas. 

"The 159th Brigade was now in front of us, and we took up 
reserve positions in the Vaux Woods, where we bivouacked for 
the following three days." 

CASUALTIES IN THE DRIVE OF NOVEMBER 1-8 

KILLED IN ACTION 

Company "A" 

Privates — Albert G. Baker (Nov. 1st), John Carmody (Nov. 1st), 
Patrick P. Collins (Nov. 1st) and Laurence K. Helman (Nov. 1st). 

Company "C" 

Private, first class — Vernon G. Pace (Nov. 1st). 

Privates — Dawson Caudill (Nov. 1st), John J. Finn. Nov. 1st), Charles 
H. Hale (Nov. 1st), Frank E. Hannsman (Nov. 1st), Powrell C. Padgett 
(Nov. 1st) and Albert G. Schucter (Nov. 1st). 

Company "D" 

Privates, first class — Harry W. Altmeyer (Nov. 1st) and Harry F. 
Lindner (Nov. 1st). 

Private — Raymond B. Fleegle (Nov. 1st). 

Medical Detachment 

Private — Gregorio Zapanta (Nov. 1st). 

DIED OF WOUNDS 

Company "D" 

Private — Dellie Brown (Nov. 1st). 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 161 

WOUNDED IN ACTION 
Company "A'' 

Sergeants — Patrick J. Conway (Nov. 1st) and Samuel F. Gower (Nov. 
1st). 

Corporal — Walter J. Posenau (Nov. 1st). 

Mechanic — Walter L. Buch (Nov. 1st). 

Bugler — Nerval M. Eisaman (Nov. 1st). 

Privates, first class — Gus A. Coleson (Nov. 1st) and William T. Hur- 
ley (Nov. 1st). 

Privates — John P. Andre (Nov. 1st), William R. Bauer (Nov. 1st), 
Charles H. Beer (Nov. 1st), Paul F. Bonk (Nov. 1st), Patrick F. Ducey 
(Nov. 1st), Herbert F. Gottes (Nov. 1st), Robert L. McGrew (Nov. 1st), 
Mike Swistock, Jr. (Nov. 1st) and Mike Voke (Nov. 1st). 

Company "B" 

Corporal — Daniel B. McGarey (Nov. 1st). 

Privates — Frank Myers (Nov. 1st) and John Walsh (Nov. 1st). 

Company "C" 

Corporals — Paul Dott (Nov. 3d) and Charles J. Tribby (Nov. 1st). 

Privates — Francis I. Crotty (Nov. 1st), Andrew G. Farmer (Nov. 1st), 
Jesse L. Getz (Nov. 1st), Karl L. Harms (Nov. 1st), Ollie Keeton (Nov. 
1st), Dominick Patrella (Nov. 1st), Frank Pollard (Nov. 1st), John L. 
Ratcliff (Nov 1st), Charles H. Reynolds (Nov. 1st), Fred Riebesel (Nov. 
1st), John Rosnick (Nov. 1st), Giacomo Saia (Nov. Ist), Albert Stenstrom 
(Nov. 1st), Everett S. Torrey (Nov. 1st), Henry Trares (Nov. 1st) and 
Roy A. Voss (Nov. 1st). 

Company "D" 

Second Lieutenant — James H. Abies (Nov. 1st). 

Corporal — Joseph J. Simmons (Nov. 1st). 

Mechanic — Frank L. Davis (Nov. 1st). 

Privates — Steve B. Burns (Nov. 1st), Joe R. Carder (Nov. 1st), Wil- 
liam A. Colquist (Nov. 1st), John Donnelly (Nov. 1st). Raymond Edevane 
(Nov. 1st), Antonio Faroni (Nov. 1st), John M. C^alouzes (Nov. 1st), 
Henry Janke (Nov. 1st), Elias J. Kroustonis (Nov. 1st), Phillip Kusnik 
(Nov. 1st), Edward G. Meade (Nov. 1st), Victor Mickunas (Nov. 1st), 
John S. Mouse (Nov. 1st), Albert J. Reimer (Nov. 1st), Leland D. Rob- 
erson (Nov. 1st), Tomas L. Rowley (Nov. 1st), Walter E. Sanborn 
(Nov. 1st), William Smith (Nov. 1st), Henry O. Swanson (Nov. 1st), 
Edward Sweeney (Nov. 1st) and Benjamin F. Thomas (Nov. 1st). 

Medical Detachment 

Private — Norman Frey (Nov. 1st). 

OTHER PARTICIPANTS IN THE DRIVE OF NOV. 1-8. 

Battalion Headquarters 

Captain — George C. Little ("B" Co.), in command of the battalion.* 
First Lieutenant — Malcolm Corduan, Battalion Adjutant. 
Privates, first class — Daniel A. Cleary ("A" Co.). Raymond W. Ear- 
nest ("A" Co.), Earl Ivory ("D" Co.), Thomas M. Kane ("C" Co.), 
Joseph A. Laird ("D" Co.), Raymond E. Pluskey ("B" Co.), David A. 
Rorison ("C" Co.) and Frank Treder ("D" Co.). 

*I returned from the hospital November 6th, and took command of tlie 
battalion. 



162 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 



Company "A" 

First Lieutenant — Dyer Merriam, commanding company. 

First Lieutenant — Leonard J. Supple. 

Mess Sergeant — Daniel R. Downey. 

Supply Sergeant — Frank Fisher, Jr. 

Sergeants — Ralph C. Bugher, Jeremiah J. Madden and Stanislaus 
Zimowski. 

Corporals — William A. Douglass, Jack Pallitto, Donald W. Thomas, 
Fred J. Trees, Robert P. Willig and John R. Yockey. 

Cooks — Hugh Geyer and Frank T. Ryan. 

Mechanic — John H. Rozum. 

Privates, first class — Walter J. Beckner, Thomas L. Delaney, Pierce L 
Geist, Frank Lerminiaux, Frank L. Mclntyre, Martin L. Manion, Melvin 
J. Shaw, David Shiff, Louis Stair, Harry B. Taylor and John Williams. 

Privates — Nicola Ammazzalorso, Charles F. Andress, David K. Auch- 
invole, Arnold R. Backhaus, Walter E. Bailey, Harvey Baringer, Russell 
C. Beale, Aloys H. Beckstedt, Earl J. Benner, Samuel E. Bishop, Gust 
Brodga, Walter Boyd, Fred J. Brown, Ned L. Brown, Albert H. Bryant, 
George W. Byers. William L. Cameron, George C. Carnes, Fred Caster, 
Anthony Chearo, Joseph E. Cook, Wilber F. Coombs, Frank R. Corn- 
messer, William Cougill, William R. Crook, Robert L. Crytser, Louis De 
Caprio, Vincenzo di Franco, Gabriel DeMichelli, John J. Dunbar, Thomas 
W. Edinger, Albert F. Emmons, Ray Epley, Vincenzo Ficeti, Frank A. 
Fleming, Ralph W. Fox, William J. A. Frohwerk, Damazy Frenckiewicz, 
Leroy C. Gahimer, Pietro Galossi. Joseph J. Gankosky, Thayer J. Glass- 
cock, George F. Goings, Morris Goldberg, Steve W. Gonda, Samuel Gor- 
don, Frank F. Groves, Elmer Hankins, Albert L. Hetrick, John Houghton, 
Frank A. Jones, Roy E. Jones, Joseph A. Karnes, Walter J. Kiehl, George 
J. Kingan, Harold L Konacker, Dominic Krahel, Herman H. Krump, 
Clyde E. Levy, Philip S. Littlefield, Arthur D. Lynch. James H. Lynch, 
Lewis M. McDonald, Roy McElravy, William McGrogan, William Maloon, 
Lawrence A. Mantovani, Frederick O. Mareon, Roy E. Miller, Vincenzo 
Nardone, Kazimez Obidjinsky, Frank W. Paulins, Fancisco Quarato, John 
Quinn, Leavitt F. Quinn, Herbert G. Richards, Arthur L. Rollo, Raymond 
V. Sabin, Alton Sewell, Henry W. Shields, James L. Shoemaker, Oscar W. 
Stoneberg, Charles B. Stratton, Adam Surab, Alesandro Toppi, Fred 
Trumbull, John J. Vassey, Dalton W. Verner, Peter P. Wagner. Robert 
L. Wampler, Roscoe C. Webb, Lloyd R. Whitaker and Hallam F. Zelle- 
frow. 

"B" Company 

Captain — George C. Little. 

First Lieutenant — Hugh C. Parker. 

Second Lieutenant — Albin W. Backiel. 

Mess Sergeant — Staniford L. Lambert. 

Sergeants — Homer G. Beck, Harold M. Crouse, William J. Dillner, 
Harris Frazier, John Sherman. Jr., Charles M. Utz and Roy T. Weak. 

Corporals — Charles Davis, David T. Edrington, Robert F. Harper, Jesse 
Hess, Peter J. Killmeyer, Clyde E. Lees, Otis C. Lockwood, Edward J. 
McGinness, Gabor Naggy, John Pamaranski, Eleuterio Ricci, Groca 
Sansone, Milford Schlenker and Roscoe M. Weatherell. 

Cooks— Louis Laufer, Jr., Harry E. Long, William E. Schafer and 
George W. Stocks. 

Mechanic — Bernardo Jelpi. 

Buglers — Francesco Palmieri and Conrad J. Schober. 

Privates, first class — Joseph H. Giguere, Joseph G. Henry, William R. 
Hice, Leo Honcia, Joseph J. J. Hutter, William W. Kane. Charles T. 
Krepps, John L. McCracken, Raoul Renaud and Waldo G. Sarver. 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 163 

James W. Dunwell, William Edieman Harrv N ' m]""'^- Jhomas Duffy, 

M?iSa.y- Sr;rSa^:;a:,isr K^^t^ri- ^aS"So??^- 

Majre Isaac Males, Clemens Mali„eski,JoS Mam inen Ear?' S m'*^' 

Charles StankeSii. p'ra'nk Stemptw™ "ewel^D ' "ash^VSce^CT 
Tra cmi, William B. Wallace, Van C. Wells Laurence I w;ill!!< irj ^ 
a"i"r„T4°h"-A^(;S? ^'"^™"^' «^-^ ^- W^": Wflli^m^^^oo'itei; 

"C" Company 

gletjrs7;;^k«s-kl^°r-?^'„rrR'"vtf„r"--- 

Mess Sergeant— Leo J. Dressel. ^' 

Supply Sergeant— Herman H. Hendel 
Sergeant— Milburn P. Schenk 

muL^K^'i'^^s^- ^°"""'"' ^°^^" J- ^^^^^'•^^' Edward T. Moran and 
.^^Mechanics-Michael J. Moran. Andrew Redlick and William J. Rob- 
Bugler— John D. Foote. 

Piiiisiii 

Privates-John Amsler, Tom Balsamo Aloizy Bialik Lewi. V R^u 
Giuseppe Brum, Thomas Campbell, Lui Cipro James O r)ehnl/c:-^°!''?^' 

John B. Hughes, Barney Hupka, Karl Jensen William F Tohn.nn w ?' 



164 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

Steve Minski, Albert I. Mitchell, Edward T. Moon, Charles B. Moore, 
Michael C. Moran, Roy L. Morgan, James A. Murphy, Matthew J. Murtha, 
Lewis T. Novak, Lewis N. Nystrom, William H. Ober, Robert B. Osburn, 
Archimede Paolella, Young E. Park, David B. Parker, James E. Parker, 
William K. Patterson, Sylvester Perfume, Harry McK. Perkins, Dominick 
Picuto, Yarbrough Porter, William C. Pruitt, John P. Przybylski, Joseph 
C. Reder, Paul Reho, Herman F. Reiser, William G. Richter, Joseph 
Rosenthal, James M. Russell, Steve Sambresik, Henry Schroeder, Jesse 
Shorter, Nick Sicker, John M. Silliman, Charles A. Skaggs, Clyde J. 
Smith, Herbert O. Speer, Hugo E. Spelsburg, Monroe L Vaught, Clyde E. 
Watton. Edward M. Wolfel and Thomas E. Wise. 

"D" Company 

First Lieutenant — Leon B. Schwartz, commanding company. 

First Lieutenant — Robert B. Thompson. 

First Sergeant — Rudolph R. Menzinger. 

Mess Sergeant — John N. Digby. 

Supply Sergeant — Edward B. Flannigan. 

Sergeants — Joseph Burkhart, George Schloer, Peter F. Voegler and 
Charles H. Wilson. 

Corporals — Joseph J. Donovan, Frank H. Fracek, Joseph L. Garlicki, 
Guy T. Martin, Anthony Miklaxzewicz, Jesse R. S. Schroder and Frank 
H. Thompson. 

Cooks — Frank W. Marmo, Emil E. Miller, Raymond Shipley and John 
Zyeccea. 

Mechanics — William E. Foster and Francis Milewski. 

Privates, first class — Alexander Elliott. Joseph Lipko, Nicholas S. 
Mackowiak, Liebold Miodnszewski and Michael Seksni. 

Privates — Jacob Bartle, Renato Bianchi, Harry R. Black, Nicholas 
Bobeck, Joseph A. Bosserman, Bill B. Bowman, Hayward Broadwater, 
Joe R. Carder, Phillip Chesney, Stanley J. Chmielwski, Ambrose Christy, 
Lambert H. Clifford, William H. Coll, William A. Colquist, Claude R. 
Crook, Carmine Cusano, Alexander Dembinski, Constant Donbar, Howard 
B. Downing, Otto R. Drahiem, Joseph Drzymala, Felix Evanoski, David 
M. Fisher, Paul Fowler, Henry W. Gerhold, Edward J. Glennan, Stoka 
Goff, Joseph Golubski, Charles P. Haddad, Alexander Harkins, Sylvester 
A. Hanger, Clarance B. Huber, Kazmerz Ignatowicz, Stanislaw Jakubiak, 
Joseph J. Janowski, Arthur N. Jones, George Kafutis, Fred J. Karl, 
Rak Kiusi, Joseph N. Klemanski, George Kopis, Kazimierz Kostro, Peter 
Krammerwitz, Stanley Krasinski, Stanislaus Krasowaski, Fred Kudelka, 
Herbert F. Kuhl, David Levinson, George Liep, William H. Lowther, 
Stanley Lukash, James V. McDermott, Michael McDonough, Frank 
Magee, Joseph E. Matthews, Henry Meadows, Francis Milewski, Joseph 

E. Moff, Umberto Moriconi, Tony Mulniex, Harley E. Nay, Maryjan 
Ofman. John P. O'Hagan, Mateuse Powelak, Donato G. Pisconeri, Thad- 
deus Polinski, Harrison Price, Giuseppe Pumpinella, Charles J. Riley, 
Robert J. Robson, Charles Rodgers, Bror G. Rosenquist, Anton Ruhnke, 
Frank Sage, Ferdinand A. Scheurer, Edward Schultz, Carl J. Schweitzer, 
Jacob B. Smith, James H. Smith, Walter Sobczak, Stanislaw Sobieki, 
Walter Stawski, Edgar E. Stevens, Martin C. Stine, George Stephanos, 
Joe Sumeracki, Frank W. Swanson, Willam C. Swanson, Jozapas Swal- 
denis, Lawrence Suppert, Henry A. Taylor, Alexander Tuchnoeski, James 

F. Valentine, Cecil C. Vanscoy, Kamartis Vlahogianos, Stanislaus Wasek, 
James R. Williams, Samuel Williams. Wladystaw Yurek, John Zaremba, 
John Zavortka and Wiadystay Zielinaki. 

Medical Detachment 
Captain — William W. Shelton. 
Sergeant — George E. Black. 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 165 

Privates— William H. Anthony, Rudie Hirth, William McKinley, Rus- 
sell W. Mahon and James F. Mitchell. 

Signal Detachment 

Sergeants — Stephen J. Cushion and Lawrence S. Letzkus. 

Corporals — Owen B. Hannan and H. E. Williams. 

Privates, first class — Freidl Rosenquist and William H. McChesney. 

Privates — Daniel A. Bailey, William S. Bunting, Henderson C. Boyd, 
Alfred Murray, James D. Swaney, Jr., William C. Unphall, D. E. Wil- 
liams, Howard C. Weiman and A. Zimmerman. 

Battalion Transport Detachment 

First Lieutenant — Walter A. Sorensen ("C" Co.), Battalion Transport 
Officer. 

Second Lieutenant — Frank W. McKean, Battalion Supply Officer. 

Sergeants — John J. Coyne (Supp. Co.) and Frank Morrison ("B" Co.). 

Corporals— Frank P. Flynn ("A" Co.), Joseph Perkoski ("D" Co.) 
and Wilbert J. Stewart (Supp. Co.) 

Horseshoer — Howard W. Morton ("Supp. Co.). 

Saddler — George Dineka (Supp. Co.). 

Cook — John G. Bentz (Supp. Co.). 

Wagoners— Percy E. Caldwell (Supp. Co.), Daniel M. Cavanaugh 
(Supp. Co.), Herbert Christner (Supp. Co.), Henry F. Cleer (Supp. Co.), 
John W. Colgan (Supp. Co.), Linus J. Donahue (Supp. Co.), Austen 
Ericksson (Supp. Co.), Edward Grimm. (Supp. Co.), Lloyd Hudson 
(Supp. Co.), Alexander Jackson (Supp. Co.), Frank L. Jones (Supp. 
Co.), Elmer R. Kepple (Supp. Co.), Joseph J. Marous (Supp. Co.), Ber- 
nard McGinty, HI (Supp. Co.), Otto Schatz (Supp. Co.), Andrew J. 
Stashick (Supp. Co.), Elmer G. Strassler (Supp. Co.) and Lawrence 
Sullivan (Supp. Co.). 

Private, first class— Stanley M. Hallett ("D" Co.). 

Privates — Lawrence F. Brennan ("D" Co.), Edward Bixton ("B" Co.), 
Michael Curry ("B" Co.), Harold W. Dettmer ("C" Co.), Daniel Flan- 




("B" Co.), John Prutsok ("B" Co.), Herman F. Reiser ("C" Co), John 
Rutke ("B" Co.), Oscar W. Sletton ("D" Co.). Herbert O. Speer ("C" 
Co.), Max Szarmach ("D" Co.), Antonio Vilardi ("A" Co.), Albert L. 
Wagner ("B" Co.) and James E. Whiteman ("A" Co.). 



166 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 



CHAPTER X 



THE GREAT HIKE OUT OF THE LINES 

And now, having given the movements and activity of the 
battalion from the time it left me at Le Chemin on October 23d, 
as prepared by Lieutenant Schwartz, I will take up the account 
of the Battalion movement from the time we left the valley near 
Vaux early in the morning of November 8th. 

We passed through the woods and over the fields as far as 
Buzancy the roads being cluttered up with artillery and troops 
traveling in trucks trying to overtake the fleeing Boche. As we 
passed through Buzancy, we moved by the roads on to Marcq, a 
distance of twenty-two kilometers, and I remember as we passed 
along the roads everywhere there were the ever-present evidences 
of a great struggle, equipment, dead horses, captured artillery, 
and great quantities of German ammunition piled like cords of 
v/ood everywhere. Indeed, on this one road over which we 
passed I estimated on the one day's march that we passed a 
million rounds of German artillery ammunition piled along the 
roadside. 

At Marcq the men bivouacked in an orchard, and my officers 
and I billeted in an abandoned residence that was partly torn 
down by shell fire. The chimney was intact, however, and we 
built a roaring fire in the fireplace and I remember I slept in a 
French bed without coverlet or any other thing to keep me warm 
except the clothing I wore. The town of Marcq had evidently 
been a German Headquarters of some sort as Boche signs were 
everywhere, upon first-aid stations, headquarters, hospitals, road 
crossings and what not. 

THE MOCK CONFERENCE IN THE WOODS 

On the morrow we continued the march southward through 
the muddy roads to the Bois d'Apremont, which we reached about 
one o'clock in the afternoon. Here we rested that night and the 
next day, which was Sunday, the 10th of November. I shall never 
forget this place nor this time. The men were sheltered in a 
deep ravine in the woods in shacks that had long been occupied 
by the Boche. My officers and I were housed in one large one- 
room shack under the hill, that had a stove and a large number 
of chicken-wire cots in it. Sunday was a day of recording, 
around the stove, many experiences of days gone by, and the 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 167 

warm fireside made them pleasant to relate and pleasant to listen 
to. I remember also that at that time the preliminary conferences 
between the Allies and the Germans had already taken place and 
the German delegates had gone back to announce the terms that 
had been laid down by General Foch, and there was much specu- 
lation among my officers as to whether the Boche would accept 
the terms or not. Of pleasant and happy recollection to me will 
always be the mock conference my officers held in that shack that 
Sunday night between the Allies and the Germans. There was 
Von Heinze, Von Tirpitz and Von Hindenburg, and on the 
other side Lord Weymss and General Foch. I remember that 
the German delegates argued and remonstrated with the Allies 
on the severity of the terms, but finally they gave in and accepted 
the terms of Foch, in real French fashion, jumped up and 
kissed them on the cheeks, and the war was over. It was indeed 
a singular coincidence that just at that hour — about 6:00 o'clock 
on Sunday night, the 10th of November — the Germans had as a 
matter of fact returned to Marshal Foch and accepted the terms ; 
but we did not, of course, know that until afterwards. 

So that the "Cu-Bru Club" (so named from the Cunel-Brieulles 
Road where our heaviest fighting took place) as those self-styled 
delegates of the Great Powers chose to call themselves, had an 
auspicious beginning in this correct prognostication of events of 
such great historical magnitude. 

I remember, also, that on that same Sunday night one of the 
men who waited on Officers' Mess — Private Bianco by name — 
who had been listening to us talk and who thought, no doubt, that 
we knew what we were talking about, rushed out of the shack on 
the way to the kitchen and shouted : "The war is over." Imme- 
diately the cry was taken up by other voices thereabout and pretty 
soon men began to hollo, and rifles and automatic rifles began 
to pop and sputter and reverberate through the hills like a real 
battle, and rockets were fired lighting up the sky. Indeed, I had 
some difficulty in checking the dangerous turn the enthusiasm of 
the men's minds had taken and I remember that I had to have 
Bugler Palmieri sound the bugle call to quarters. 

THE ELEVENTH OF NOVEMBER 

We left the Bois de Apremont of pleasant memory on the 
morning of the historic eleventh of November, 1918, not certain, 
but strongly hopeful, that the Allies' terms had been accepted and 
that the great war would end that day. I remember how much 
confidence I had in my lucky number eleven — and I spoke of the 
fact that it was proposed that hostilities cease at the eleventh 
hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, and I did not see 
how it could fail, so much superstition is there wrapped up in the 



168 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

most of US. Indeed about eleven o'clock we met some French 
officers on their way to the front in an automobile, who said that 
the armistice had been signed and that the war was over. To 
say that the men were happy was to state it mildly — there was a 
sense of joy throughout the whole command. And yet it seemed 
almost incredible that the war was over and that we were on our 
way out of the line permanently, and it was very difficult to adjust 
our minds to the idea that we were going back home to the loved 
ones in the flesh again, a thing which the dangers and the vicissi- 
tudes of war up to that time had caused us to hope for but not 
expect. 

I remember the sinuous route we took that day through hills 
and valleys of the Argonne Forest, and the graves that lined the 
roadside told of the great struggle that had taken place there a 
short time before and the price that was paid in precious blood 
for those strongholds of the forest. 

In the afternoon we reached the woods near Les Islettes where 
we bivouacked for a week on the side of a hill. It was a dull 
period of routine and waiting made necessary, we were infonned, 
by the great movements of troops and wagons and truck trains 
back from the front, which cluttered up the avenues of commu- 
nication and used up all available staging facilities, so that we 
had to wait and take our turn. We took advantage of the delay, 
however, to drill, of course, and to bathe and change the under- 
wear of the men and to begin in fact the first great drive against 
that little enemy of all mankind, the cootie. Indeed he proved 
more formidable than the Boche, for while we whipped the Boche, 
we have not yet been able to overcome the cootie. Altogether it 
was not an unpleasant stay in the woods, and it revived memories 
of the old Robin Hood days we had spent in the Montplonne 
wood and other places that I have named. The woods seemed to 
bring out again the spirit of song, so close akin are we to our 
brother birds, and I remember passing the Headquarters Company 
one night and hearing a quartette giving vent to a spirit of war- 
bling joy in that little song I wrote at Camp Lee for "E" Com- 
pany, to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne" : 

In Germany the River Rhine is flowing to the sea 

Filled to the brim with German beer as good as it can be. 

We come from Pennsylvania and old Virginia, too. 

We'll drink the damned old river dry and let the army through. 

Judging from the noise they made, and from the sustained 
minors of the song, I should say that they had already consumed 
most of the tributaries of the great artery of commerce. Any- 
way it was good to hear men sing again. But there was an under- 
current of sadness running through all this joy, for I remember 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 169 

one day on the march, as we swung into a httle town (men sing 
most often as they pass through towns, especially if the mademoi- 
selles come out to see them — that is human nature) — somebody 
started up the song: 

"Hail, hail, the gang's all here," but he was stopped almost 
immediately, because the men instinctively remembered that as a 
matter of fact the gang was not all there. 

The wait at Les Islettes being over, we marched out again on 
the morning of the 18th of November, and reached the dirty, 
inhospitable little village of Verriers in the afternoon of the same 
day. The next day we made Givry-en-Argonne and from there, 
on the 20th, we reached Revigny where "B" and "C" Companies 
rested in the great canvas aerodrome and "A" and "D" Com- 
panies pitched pup-tents, and the officers made their home on the 
floor of a little wooden shack that had been built for a bath- 
house. We stayed here all the next day. 

REPLACEMENTS AT REVIGNY 

It was at Revigny, I remember, that a great number of men 
were assigned to my battalion. 

LIST OF REPLACEMENTS RECEIVED AT REVIGNY 
Company "A" 

First Sergeant — Thomas W. Smith. 

Sergeant — William R. Hammack. 

Corporals — George H. Barrows, Herman Cohen, Gerardo Desimone, 
Charles E. Haskell, John K. Holmes, William C. Holt, Paul H. Jones, 
William J. Kearney, Robert E. Martin, William E. Rigby, George L. Smith, 
Roy Swinburn, Minor M. Tanner and Charles Thomas. 

Cooks — William W. Jones and Edgar W. Northcraft. 

Privates, first class — Claude C. Clark, Herbert Coates, Max Katz, Henry 
O. Madden, Varian C. Scott, Max Sweet, John R. Tweedell and Herman D. 
Womble. 

Privates — Henry E. Allen, John Arkinson, Albert Bernard, William 
Blackburn, Joe Bona, Joseph F. Brodour, Pete Brown, Wade B. Burger, 
William J. Bynum, Adolphus W. Carlton, Guiseppi Corelli, Hinton A. 
Daniel, Lonnie C. Dolofif, William F. Domser, James Fellars, Alex Filu- 
torich, Alkie Foropoulis, Giaconio Friello, Harry M. Garvey, Fritz G. 
Goericke, Walter L. Hale. Warner A. Henry, Henry A. Hooper, Clarence 
E. Hornsby, John W. Hull, Emanuel Incalcaterra, Prokopis Kanelopoulos, 
Frank M. Lauber, Henry W. Laurie. Michael J. McDonald, Charles C. 
McKibbon, Antonio Margotta, Ed H. May. John H. May, Albert J. 

Michaud, Joseph W. Miller, John C. Milton, Paul H. Noack, 

Norman, Roy A. Padgett, Luigi Pulo, Sidney L. Reed, John E. Robertson, 
Joseph Sanford. Guy L. Shaw, George Strawn, Tony Stubleck, Daniel 
Sullivan, Lemmy T. Titsworth, Frank Trvino, Mike J. Tussay, Otto 
Vickers, Owen L. Wininger, James A. Wood and Robert T. Yates. 

Company "B" 

Sergeants — Harry L. Holmes, Charles G. Morrissey and Peter Ross. 
Corporals — Dale E. Leonard, George Ray, Joe Robinson, William E. 
Rogers, Robert C. Scott and Algy M. Wooley. 



170 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

Mechanics — Oscar L. Laumen and Fred Stokes. 

Privates, first class— Ernest D. Britton, Freddie Cloudt, John Crag- 
lione, Joseph M. Mittleman, Oscar V. Owen, Zene G. Powers, Clyde H. 
Ramsey, Robert L. Reynolds, William B. Wilbanks and Benjamin O. 
Wheeler. 

Privates — Joseph Brinad. Robert S. Connor, Frank Cramer, Harvey 
W. Crouch, Joseph L. Dixon, John L. Garner, Henry J. Grebing, Joseph J. 
Hyland, Michel Klawe, Charles W. Littlejohn, Charles F. Luby, German 
McKinzie, Guiseppe Maloney, Birger F. Nyholm, William H. Roberts, 
James E. Rose, Sam D. Savage, Kelly M. Shelton, Ed. L. Sommerlatte, 
James A. Stephens, James A. Stockover, Jackson L. Storie, Herbert L. 
Turner, D. A. Tyler. William E. Walsh and John A. Zoellner. 

Company "C 

Sergeants — Dave Martell, Joseph Netzel, William O'Shea and Nicholas 
Yantsois. 

Corporals — Arthur E. Anderson, John W. Davis, Napoleon Ducharme, 
John Hossan, John Lawler, Harry P. Romig, Charles H. Roth, Louis 
Schimmel, Oliver W. Sheppard, William E. Wege and Edmond Wyatt. 

Privates, first class — Ernest Axom, John H. Crawford, Clinton H. 
Hart, Douglass G. Jamson, Alfred J. Lebel, Julius Lovington, Howard 
Robinson and Joe Senftleben. 

Privates — Frank Alteri. Armand Adams, Ernest Ayers, Theopholis 
Bachand, Curtis Barden, Hayne Booker, Max E. Brandes, Roy Brown, 
Hollis Burkholder, Joseph Callahan, Charles E. Carso, William G. Collins, 
Michael L. Crowley, Bronislaw Czerniauski, Antonio Defati, J. C. Derr, 
Sidney G. Franklin, Giconta Gargano, Grover C. Glosson, John Goedert, 
Ross G. Hauser, Sam L. House, Frank Howard, Herman Huntsman, 
I. Iverson, Wirt H. Jenkins, Charles H. Jones, Alfred J. Lebel, Stanley 
Lorkowski, John E. Louvenbach, Peter Lucia, John Lundie, German McKin- 
zie, William B. Mattoon, Henry Mohart, John J. Mullins, Henry New- 
comb, Robert J. Newman, John Oberle, Roman J. Pelecki, Jesse Penland, 
Tony Petrosino. Peter J. Proksch, Frank Rego, James Rosso, Harry N. 
Rudolph, James M. Russel, Joe Samunsky, Joseph C. Scharp, James 
Simpson, Pearl Stone, Sam A. Trihus, George R. Wilson and Rufus 
Wright. 

Company "D" 

Sergeant Major — Samuel H. Fisher. 

First Sergeant— Lyman R. Burkett. 

Mess Sergeant — Frank Reisterer. 

Sergeants — Norman F. Boyeson, John Boughter, Andrew Healey, 
Albert W. Leonhard. Ruben Mabry, Wayne B. Mitten, George Nagengast, 
Asel L. Northrup, Donald P. Nisler, William A. Reckner, Herbert F. 
Schultz and Lawrence Wang. 

Corporals— Ernest B. Allen, Benjamin L. Beiler, John E. Burk, Wil- 
liam P. Conklyn, Charles F. Douglass, James E. Duffy, John Erwin, 
Edward J. Harry, Sam Marcus, Fleck P. Mixell. William J. Murphy, 
Carlos E. Patterson and John Worthington. 

Cook — Dock E. Johnson. 

Mechanic— James P. Smith. 

Buglers— Ned B. Hubbard and Pasquale Lena. 

Privates, first class— William J. Kessler, John Oberle, Ray H. Stites, 
Theodore M. Swanson and George E. Wright. 

Privates— Peter Bartush, Frank W. Bauer, Ralph J. Belles, William J. 
Blakely, Bohumil Benisec. Thomas Bryant, Bob Borchan, Arthur H. 
Cahill Liugi Catalino, Harry E. Craft, Angelo Dogastino, John Ecken- 
wiler, Wilfred Fielding, Joseph L. Garrity, Clarence E. Gierman, Thomas 
N. Hesson, Patrick J. Hennelly, Lynn W. Holmes, Alben Janswky, Porter, 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 171 

L. Johnson, Talley E. John, Edwin L. Karmarry, Louis Koepp, Daniel D 
Konts, Samuel Kramer, Walter K. Lewis, Edward Letricic, Thomas 
McAuhffe, John McGillis. John McMillan, Bolestaw Majeski, ' Frank P 
Mayse, Humelo Mele, Felix Millecan, Salvatore Morrongillo, Charles B 
Ratto, Henry Ricketts, Dawson Rogers, Frank Rutsatz, Meyer 'Schwimmer 
Oliver W. Sheppard, Ben Salovitch, Paul C. Schuhardt, Louis Shapiro' 
Louis R. Space, William Szebler, Howard S. Vincent, Henry Wesslini? 
and Joseph Zito. * 

These men, for the most part, were on their way back from the 
hospitals to join their outfits at the fronts, who were stopped 
when the armistice was signed and collected in great bodies and 
assigned to outfits that were moving out of the lines. They were 
men from many divisions of the army, proud of their own outfits 
and anxious to join them, and they joined us with the same bad 
grace with which. I fear, our men and some of our ofiicers received 
them. But we took them in and equipped them (which was no 
small matter, as they were practically without equipment save 
what they had on their backs) and fed them and permitted them 
to travel with what our men thought was about the best outfit 
that ever came out of a fighting line. 

At any rate on the morning of the 20th of November we 
marched out on the frost covered roads, my column filled up to 
book strength, stretching out as far almost as the eye could see. 
It did not take us long to find out that a great many of the men 
who had joined us at Revigny were not in shape to keep up the 
march with heavy pack and equipment without great pain and 
suffering. In fact, many of them had just come out of the hos- 
pital and, even if fully recovered from their wounds or sickness, 
had not become hardened to the march, and I kept a guard always 
at the end of the column to encourage and to prod, if need be. 
But there was every inducement to stick it out and I believe there 
was no disposition to fall out before the limit of physical endur- 
ance was reached. Indeed, I have seen strong men crying as if 
their heart would break because they wanted to keep up with the 
column, but their aching feet and legs and tired backs would not 
permit them to go further under the heavy load. 

And what a load that was. Lest we forget in time to come 
what that load was like, and regard it merely as a memory, I set 
down here what a man carried on his back on that never-to-be- 
forgotten march : 

ARTICLES WEIGHT 

1 Cap 4 Oz 

; g'9"se 3 Lbs. 4 Oz. 

\ P^!^ Trousers 2 Lbs. 6 Oz 

3 Pair Socks 15 q^ 

1 Pair Shoes [ 4 Lbs. 2 Oz' 

1 Pair Puttees ]0 Oz 



172 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 



ARTICLES WEIGHT 

2 O. D. Shirts 3 Lbs. 8 Oz. 

2 Suits Underwear 4 Lbs. 3 Oz. 

1 Slicker 4 Lbs. Oz. 

1 Overcoat 7 Lbs. 3 Oz. 

1 Blanket 4 Lbs. 8 Oz. 

1 Haversack 2 Lbs. 6 Oz. 

1 Grenade 1 Lb. 6 Oz. 

1 Rifle 9 Lbs. 8 Oz. 

1 Bayonet and Scabbard 1 Lb. 10 Oz. 

1 Mess Kit Complete 1 Lb. 2 Oz. 

1 Cup 7 Oz. 

1 Canteen 8 Oz. 

1 Canteen Cover 6 Oz. 

1 Cartridge Belt 1 Lb. 2 Oz. 

1 First-aid Pouch and Packet 6 Oz. 

1 Pack-Carrier 7^^ Oz. 

1 Shelter-half 2 Lbs. 14 Oz. 

Toilet Articles 1 Lb. 7 Oz. 

1 Helmet 2 Lbs. 

1 Gas Mask 3 Lbs. 11 Oz. 

2 Days' Reserve Rations 4 Lbs. 

1 Additional Blanket 4 Lbs. 8 Oz. 

A total of nearly 75 pounds, no small load for a pack animal 
on a hike of a hundred and fifty miles. And there were those 
who carried the automatic rifles and some rations and sinall arms 
ammunition and the like of that to keep the load from being 
commonplace. 

But after all there was a sense of real joy in the march that 
took some of the load off the back. Indeed, there were some 
features of real beauty and inspiration about it that exhilarated 
the tired marchers. I remember at many places through the 
Argonne Forest the neatly trimmed trees in rows on either side 
resembled an interminable Gothic aisle ; and the music of the 
band at the head of the column reverberating through the woods 
gave motion to the sinuous snake-like column and lent a note of 
triumph and a charm to the march that time will not efface from 
the memory of those who took part in it. It was in many senses 
a triumphal march — of the American Army through the sylvan 
lanes of France — with the lilt and joy of victory in it, and in the 
little forest towns, where the music brought us always admiring 
crowds, a sense of pride and glory too. 

We reached the little town of Baudonvilliers at noontime 
on the 20th, and I remember we had to hurry through our dinner 
to report to the Colonel who had sent word that he wanted to 
talk to the officers. He stood on the steps of his billet, which was 
on the main street of the town, and spoke at length upon the 
question of taxes in America as being in some way connected with 
the disinclination of a soldier to carry the junk of a pack animal. 
At any rate he was in a very mellow state of mind, and no doubt 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 173 

suffering from an over-sensitive patriotism, and felt that he must 
do something, or at least say something, for the dear land that he 
loved so well (sic). 

On the morrow (November 22d) bright and early, my bat- 
talion moved out as per schedule but I was not able to go along, 
such havoc had the French rabbit and a little champagne of the 
night before played with my stomach. After marching twenty- 
odd kilometers two of my companies, "A" and "D," staged for 
the night at Allechamps and the other two, "B" and "C," staged 
at Louvemont. I joined my companies at Allechamps at twelve 
o'clock that night, after a seven-hour chase, partly by horse and 
partly by automobile borrowed in St. Dizier, through which I 
passed. 

GREAT NEWS IN THE AIR 

I remember as I came into Allechamps that night great news 
was in the air — an order had come through from general head- 
quarters that our regiment should proceed as rapidly as possible 
to our training area and there make preparations to go to Paris 
or elsewhere for ceremonies, presumably in connection with the 
expected early visit of the President of the United States. This 
was news to revive the spirits of tired men — so that bright and 
early in the morning we were up and away. I remember as we 
climbed the hill out of Allechamps on the early Sunday morning 
the frosty earth cracked under the feet, and the crisp air flushed 
the cheeks, as the rising sun painted the East with gold. Ah ! it 
was good to be alive and on the march and to belong to an outfit 
good enough to go to Paris and parade before the nations of the 
world. At Louvremont we picked up "B" and "C" Companies 
and moving out across the River Blaise and down the great road, 
reached Wassey at ten o'clock. Here, after a brief rest, we 
pushed on, and late in the afternoon, after a hike of 26 kilo- 
meters, reached Donmartin St. Pierre, where we rested for the 
night. 

We were getting now out of the devastated area and where 
war had not placed its seal of horror upon the land and the 
people, and where the American soldier was a matter of interest 
to the populace, and there was a marked increase in the cordiality 
with which we were treated. Indeed, in the towns through which 
we were now passing the people were really glad to see us and 
have us with them for a time. I remember as we pulled out of 
Donmartin St. Pierre early the next morning the populace 
turned out en masse to watch us march out and to hear the music 
of the band that led the column. 

We reached Maisons in the rain that afternoon, and I remem- 
ber that night there was an issue of candy with the rations — the 



174 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

first issue (if I am not mistaken) since we came to Europe, 
although we were supposed to get it issued to us once every 
ten days. 

The next afternoon we reached Champignole, after a march 
of 20-odd kilometers, weary and footsore and just wet enough 
from the rain that fell to be irritable. This was a place of pleasant 
memory to me though, because of a dinner I had with the Mayor 
of the town in whose house I was billeted. He was a professor 
and an educated man — educated in everything but the English 
language. I got along with him famously though — he with his 
smattering of English and I with my smattering of French. 

He had a commodious and an interesting house — full of 
curious and interesting relics of the great war, and of those that 
had passed, and he took pride in showing them to me. 

I remember the delightful supper prepared and served in 
the inimical fashion of the French — and after that the coffee and 
cigarettes — and then the wines, champagnes and cognac and 
what not that he produced from his own cellar, and of his own 
manufacture, which he insisted upon my sampling. I remember 
he brought out some cognac which he said was forty years old, 
but he cautioned me that cognac reached the maximum strength 
at twelve years and then began to decline — and to prove his state- 
ment he produced some of the latter age and one sample was 
sufficient to clear up all doubts. 

I shall always carry in my memory the most delightful sou- 
venirs (that is the way the French would say it) of the dinner 
and of Professor and Madam Alexander Ribon — for that was 
their name. 

The next day (November 27th) was the great day of the 
hike — the last day of the hike, that would take us to a resting- 
place where we would get in shape at once for the great trip to 
Paris. We did not know the name of the town we were to stop 
at, nor how far we were to go, but the rumor had sifted through 
(as rumors always will) that we were to march about forty kilo- 
meters that day. I remember the Regimental Surgeon had 
arranged to relay the men (or as many of them as could be 
relayed) a distance of about ten kilometers in the ambulances, 
but this scheme, as it afterwards turned out, did not work out well 
with reference to my battalion. 

THE LAST DAY'S MARCH 

At any rate, in the morning we had breakfast by candlelight 
(as usual) and between daylight and sunup time started the 
column out of Champignole on the long march. It was a pleasant 
day for such a trip, cloudy and overcast, and the fact that it was 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 175 

the "last" day gave heart to the men and the officers alike. I 
remember as we swung down the winding road there was song 
and chattering as the march began. We reached the outskirts of 
Essoyes at 1 1 :00 o'clock where I halted the column and the men 
fell out and had their lunch. Bread and cold bacon were delicate 
morsels in such circumstances as these. In view of the long 
march it was impossible to stop the kitchens to cook hot dinners 
for the men. About mid-afternoon the ambulances which had 
been carrying out the relay scheme with the two other battalions 
started to work on mine, and this operation began, I remember, 
while we were climbing the long hill north of Les Riceys, and 
Its operations ceased after "A" and "D" Companies and a part 
of "B" Company had been relayed a distance of about ten kilo- 
meters. I marched, therefore, the rest of the journey with part 
of "B'' Company and all of "C" Company. I remember as we 
came into Les Riceys, Lieutenant Pownall, who had gone ahead 
to our ultimate destination in one of the ambulances, returned to 
Les Riceys and told me the names of the towns in which my 
Companies were to rest. He wanted me to ride back with him in 
the ambulance but I declined it on the ground that I wanted to 
walk the last day the whole distance with my men. Men some- 
times suffer much for the sake of sentiment. 

We passed out of Les Riceys at dark and down the road 
beside the little stream called the Laigne River in the direction of 
Molesme, seven kilometers away, where "A" and "B" Companies 
were to rest and from which place "D" Company had gone on 
to Villedieu, three kilometers to the south, and "C" Company, 
which was with me, was to march the same distance beyond to 
a little town called Vertault. It was a tired crowd of men that 
marched the last ten kilometers, weighted down with their heavy 
packs and equipment and all that. But their courage was splendid. 
I remember before we reached Molesme I sent Lieutenant Ogle 
ahead with a portion of "B" Company with orders to have guides 
meet me at Molesme to show me where Vertault was so that I 
might march there with "C" Company; and upon reaching 
Molesme my Orderly met me and pointed out the road. 

I reached Vertault with "C" Company at eight o'clock that 
night, tired and dusty and full of aches and pains from the 
long march of forty-six kilometers (almost thirty miles). I 
have never ceased from that day to this to have the most pro- 
found respect for "C" Company, especially for the march they 
made that day. 

That night I stayed in a room in the College Building and 
got up late on the morrow which was Thanksgiving Day. I sent 
for one of my horses so that I might go down to Villedieu, where 
"D" Company was located, and so that I could also go back to 



176 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

Molesme, where my headquarters were to be ; and this horse- 
back ride gave me a fine opportunity to get the lay of the towns 
in which my troops were to rest for the winter. Vertault was 
merely a cluster of houses and a church near the base of a hill 
which was on the east of it and by the side of the River Laignc, 
which flowed at the base of it, at the left ; it was a village con- 
taining perhaps no more than fifty inhabitants, the most impos- 
ing building of which, except the church, of course, which I 
learned afterwards had not been used for many years, was the 
College Building in which I had spent the night and where the 
officers of "C" Company had their billets. 

After this brief glance at Vertault I induced my steed (which 
was a draft horse, as I had never had a riding horse before that 
time, nor since for that matter, although I had about seventy 
animals) to move down the road and across the stone bridge over 
the Laigne River, which was hardly more than a branch, and 
into the town of Villedieu, where "D" Company was in the 
process of locating. There was nothing about Villedieu to par- 
ticularly distinguish it from the other little French towns I had 
seen except the name of the town, which means : "The Town of 
God." I understand it is so called to distinguish it from Ver- 
tault which is said to be a very wicked little place, and perhaps 
as a reproof to the latter town. I am quite certain they accent- 
uated the evil of Vertault in order to magnify the virtue of 
Villedieu — this is a French trick of artistic contrast — but I con- 
fess that at first glance the little cluster of stone houses on either 
side of the main road, called Villedieu, did not serve to impress 
upon me the idea that it possesses any extraordinary or unusual 
virtues. 

From Villedieu the main road runs along the east bank of the 
Laigne River as it meanders northward to Molesme, a distance 
of nearly three kilometers. It had seemed ten kilometers the 
night before, and my horse reached it so quickly I was surprised 
to see it so close. 

MOLESME 

Molesme is a typical stone village in the heart of one of the 
Provinces of Ancient Gaul (in the Department of Cote D'Or) 
about twenty kilometers northwest of the ancient city of Chatillon, 
of which I have spoken heretofore in this history. The town begins 
at the edge of the stream and slopes upward toward the east 
to the ancient Monastery and the church, which cluster about the 
square and crown the summit of the hill, about five hundred 
meters from the stream; the main road that parallels the river 
forms the principal street through the town, and there are 
two other "principal" streets running in no particular direction 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 177 

but SO adjusted with reference to the main road as to make the 
center of the town in the shape of a triangle. Indeed, any effort 
to further describe the town would be fruitless as the town is 
simply a conglomeration of stone houses and outbuildings, and 
the streets, if they might be called streets, are without direction, 
and the place is without form and void. 

The regimental headquarters are located adjacent to the 
square near the church on top of the hill in what may be termed 
the upper town. My battalion headquarters are located in the 
home of Madam Ponson on the Route Departmentale, and my 
billet in the home of M. Gallimardi on the Rue Basse Moulain 
Rouge in what may be termed the lower village. 

Having recorded now a history of the battalion down to its 
arrival at Molesme and Villedieu and Vertault, I postpone a 
further record of the history of the battalion until the battalion 
shall leave this area, so that by that means a truer perspective 
may be gained by looking at the places hereabout. One cannot 
see things in their true light and significance, or in their true 
proportion, when he is in the midst of them. 



178 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 



CHAPTER XI 



April 2d, Laigue-en-Belin. 

At this safe distance I will set down here some of the things 
we did, some of the experiences we went through, some of the 
thought we had while at Molesme and vicinity, and something 
about the places and people amongst whom we lived. 

I remember one day at Molesme in the midst of the rainy 
season (it was about the middle of our four months' stay there) 
I asked Dr. Courtright, the Dental Surgeon, who was a member 
of battalion headquarters mess, what he would say if he were 
going to write a history of our stay in Molesme ; he replied that 
he would begin by setting down the date of our departure. I 
think, however, that he was unduly hard on Molesme. In fact, 
now that we have left the place, most of us realize that, notwith- 
standing the rain and the mud and the humdrum life and the 
drills and all that, there is hardly a man whose memory, at the 
mention of Molesme, does not bring back some tenderness of 
recollection of the place as a home of some sort, where there 
was some happiness and contentment and joy amongst all the 
inconveniences that were there. And for many there are even 
deeper memories than these, if one may be permitted to recall 
the long line of Madamoiselles (and some Madames) that 
watched through tear-dimmed eyes the columns as they marched 
out on that never-to-be-forgotten night of the 29th of March. 

To get back then to a history of our stay at Molesme, as I 
said before, the day after we arrived was Thanksgiving Day, a 
beautiful, balmy day in November — that is, it was balmy after 
we got up on that morning after the forty-six kilometer hike of 
the day before. But it was essential that men should be housed 
and fed and that the battalion house should be set in order, so 
to speak, and I soon had the officers and men busy, finding billets 
and placing kitchens and what not. Any attempt to describe the 
location of the billets of the companies in Molesme, as well as 
in Vertault and Villedieu, would be fruitless, and every man 
must carry (if he so desires) the memory of his own billet in his 
head. Now we were soon settled. Breaking up housekeeping 
and setting up housekeeping was a simple matter for my outfit ; 
we had been doing it at least once every twenty-four hours, and 
frequently very much more often, for many, many months. Mov- 
ing was a habit. Companies being settled, certainly so far as the 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 179 

geographical location was concerned, we set about to fight the 
great "Battle of Peace" as some have been wont to describe our 
stay thereabout. 

PREPARATIONS FOR THE TRIP TO PARIS 

It will be remembered that we came to Molesme for the pur- 
pose of getting in shape for the trip to Paris to parade, and, of 
course, our hearts were set upon this enterprise, and interest 
centered primarily in getting ready for it. Close order drill was 
the order of the day, and there was practice in the ceremonies ; 
Escort of the Colors, Guard of Honor for Distinguished Person- 
ages, and what not, and there was a general revival of interest in 
the I. D. R. because we had made up our minds to take no chances, 
and the men and officers alike set about to fit the companies and 
platoons for the performance of any ceremony that might be 
called for in Paris. Indeed, there was keen competition between 
the companies and platoons, and I recall with the most pleasur- 
able recollection how good, how really excellent, and sometimes 
how really beautiful, the drills became, with the mastery of the 
fundamentals and the added frills and furbelows of interested 
and imaginative platoon leaders. 

And men must be clothed, too, togged out in new suits, and 
I recall that these were issued to the men on the 5th of December, 
and new shoes and wound chevrons and what not were supplied 
to them. Indeed, we left nothing undone in preparing for the 
ceremonies, and some officers, I recall, discussed, with as much 
fastidious interest as members of the fair sex, questions of uni- 
form dress and style ; and we were all in fine spirit and mettle 
for the trip. 

But the 15th of December came, which was the time we had 
heard we were to go to Paris, and there were no orders to move. 
Then came the order postponing the trip indefinitely, and finally 
word sifted through (as word always sifts through in the army) 
that the French wanted to make President Wilson's welcome 
exclusively a French welcome and that we were not to go to 
Paris. To say that we were disappointed is to state it mildly ; 
we were disappointed beyond all measure, with only the consola- 
tion that we paraded in Paris in spite of the French — in the 
Pittsburgh newspapers. 

The prospects of Paris gone, we settled down to feathering 
the nest of the men, and finding places to eat and for recreation 
purposes. There was humor mixed up in tragedy here. I 
recall as soon as we got settled down in the area the Bulletins 
that used to come to us from the prolific pen and imagination of 
the Division Acting Chief of Stafif. Unit Commanders must fur- 
nish eating places and tables and benches, they must furnish 



180 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

places for recreation, they must furnish covered latrines, they 
must build drying rooms for the clothing of the men, and they 
must provide and build and make and fabricate a thousand other 
things that required lumber and nails and corrugated iron and 
what not — but none of the material with which to do these many 
things could be secured from the division. Indeed, we were like 
the ancient Hebrews in Egypt who were required to make bricks 
without straw. In these warm days of springtime, when the 
snow is not falling and the rains have ceased, there is a real sense 
of humor in it as I look back upon that situation and read over 
the requisition which I put in for something like twenty-five thou- 
sand feet of lumber and five kegs of nails for the purpose of 
building the places for eating and recreation and all that sort 
of thing, which had been required by division bulletins. It is 
especially humorous when I recall the fact that all the lumber 
ever received from the division (if I remember clearly) was one 
load that Captain Little was able to "borrow" from a Sergeant 
of engineers who had formerly been in Captain Little's Com- 
pany. 

But the situation of billets and eating places was not humorous 
in December when the rain was beginning to turn to snow — it 
was then serious. "B" and "D" Companies had mess halls with 
dirt floors and no tables or benches and few cots and no lumber 
for latrines ; and "A" and "C" Companies had no mess halls at 
all, and the men of these Companies were compelled to eat out of 
doors, often in the rain. Many of the men — I see by my record 
that 367 out of 960 — were sleeping with their blankets on the 
ground or upon cold, stone floors. And there were no places 
for recreation. It was a situation not only to appeal to the imagi- 
nation and the sentiments of those who were interested, but as 
well a question of health, if not of life and death itself. It was 
an especially exasperating situation, also, because the bulletins 
of the division headquarters were insisting upon ideal conditions 
without doing anything in a material way to correct the defects 
and better the situation. I was able about Christmas time to 
secure through the courtesy of Captain McDonald, the Regimental 
Supply Officer, a tent in which to feed a part of "A" Company, 
and one out of which "C" Company was able to construct some 
sort of an eating place. These tents, together with some addi- 
tional space we were able to take from the billeting space of the 
men of "C" Company, and practically by force from the French 
in the case of "A" Company, gave all the men a "house" in which 
to eat. But the tables and the benches themselves for the eating 
places, and the lumber and most of the other necessities, were 
bought and paid for, for the most part, out of the pockets of the 
men themselves, that is, out of the company funds that belong to 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 181 

the men — one or two small bills, as I recall, having been paid by 
the Y. M. C. A. 

Men's billets were everywhere, some in the nooks and cran- 
nies of the outbuildings, some in lofts, some in stone buildings 
with stone floors and great fireplaces, and some few in comfort- 
able rooms with the French people. Of course, some sentiment is 
bound to attach itself to these places, in which men made their 
homes for four months. That is the nature of man — but those 
billets, for the most part, were horrible places in which to live, 
and the sentiment of it, I have no doubt, never made itself known 
or found expression except in retrospection. It was part of the 
game of war — of hardship and suffering and sacrifice — which we 
are able to praise in others, but not willing to voluntarily experi- 
ence ourselves. 

THE HUMDRUM SCHEDULE OF DAILY LIFE 

At any rate we soon drifted into the commonplace, humdrum 
schedule of daily life, and nobody knows what this means unless 
he has been through it. The schedule of daily bugle calls will 
serve to indicate the monotonous routine of daily activities, 
monotonous to me although I had much greater leeway as to the 
disposition of my time than they, but surely most monotonous 
to the men who were compelled always to respond to the bugle 
calls ; and I set them down here lest in time to come we forget 
them: 

Reveille, first call, 6 :00 a. m. 

Assembly, 6:15 a. m. 
Breakfast, 6:30 a. m. 
Sick call, 7 :30 a. m. 
Fatigue, 7 :30 a. m. 
Drill, first call, 7 :45 a. m. 

Assembly, 7:55 a. m. 
Recall, 1 1 :00. a. m. 
Dinner, 12 :00 noon. 
School, first call, 12 :55 p. m. 

Assembly, 1 :00 p. m. 
Recall, 2 :30 p. m. 
Retreat and inspection: first call, 4:05 p. m. 

Assembly, 4:15 p. m. 
Retreat, 4 :30 p. m. 
Supper, 4 :45 p. m. 
Tattoo, 9 :00 p. m. 
Taps, 9 :30 p. m. 

And there was very little hope abroad in those days. From 
the time of the signing of the armistice men had but one ambition 



182 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

and one hope, and that was to get back home to the dear old 
U. S. A. For the most part, however, they were not averse to 
gadding about Europe a bit, seeing the sights at Government 
expense, even with the added burden of taking part in a parade 
here and there, if necessary, and it was for that reason, perhaps, 
that the prospects of the trip to Paris had raised so much hope in 
the hearts of men and officers aHke. But with the trip to Paris 
gone, men settled down to the dull drudgery of daily life with 
little hope to cheer them save the inevitable army rumors that 
sifted through from time to time. Indeed, soldiers seize rumors 
and devour them with as much avidity as children eat candy. 
There was a rumor (General Somebody's cook had told Colonel 
Somebody's Orderly) that we were to tour Europe and parade 
in the great cities for the delectation of kings and things of that 
sort, and then there was the rumor that General Pershing had 
said that we would be in "heaven, hell or Hoboken by Christ- 
mas," and many men hoped and prayed it was true, without any 
particular reference to which place it might be so long as they 
could get out of France and out of the Army. And so the rumors 
came with hope, the thought always playing tag with the wish, 
and vanished like the mist before the sun. Christmas approached 
and found us in this sad state of mind. The Company Com- 
manders, however, made arrangements to have company Christ- 
mas trees, decked out with little gewgaws and such trinkets as 
might be procured from near-by towns. They prepared, in other 
words, to get just enough of the atmosphere of Christmas to turn 
the minds of the men to the happy days gone by and thought of 
friends and loved ones far away. Indeed, in spite of dark pros- 
pects and distance and what not there was beginning to be a 
touch of Christmas spirit in the air, and there was a touch of 
Christmas crispness in the atmosphere, about Molesme. 

PARADING BEFORE THE PRESIDENT 

In the midst of these preparations, however, on the 22d day 
of December, I was summoned to regimental headquarters and 
there notified that the First Battalion had been selected to repre- 
sent the division in the review to be given for the President of 
the United States at Humes, near Longres, on Christmas day. 
Immediately all thoughts and energies were turned in the direc- 
tion of getting everything in readiness and in preparing for the 
trip. It was a distinct honor that had been conferred upon the 
battalion, as this was to be the great occasion upon which the 
President, for the first time in the history of our country, was to 
visit on foreign soil and review troops after a great war, and 
higher commanders were keen, of course, upon making the great 
review a splendid ceremony. For these reasons particularly the 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 183 

battalion felt proud of the fact that we had been selected to 
represent the 80th Division ; especially as were selected upon 
specific orders directing that there be selected, "either the four 
best companies in the division, or the best company in each of the 
four infantry regiments." 

After much readjustment of clothing and equipment, and 
putting the "house" in order as far as possible, the battalion 
moved out of Molesme at noon on the 24th of December "by 
bus," passed through Chatillon, and reached the aeroplane depot 
near La Trecy at about dusk. After spending the night of Christ- 
mas Eve at this place, where every man was given a small token 
to remind him of the day, the battalion moved out between 7 :00 
and 8 :00 o'clock on Christmas morning, and, after many vicissi- 
tudes because of breakdowns and shifting of men from one truck 
to the other, reached Humes, and passed up the big Chaumont- 
Laigne Road to the parade ground just in time to clear the Presi- 
dential Party. Those who took part in that Review will not soon 
forget the booming of the big guns as the President stepped upon 
the stand, nor the clear ringing tones in which the President 
spoke, his voice reaching the furthermost parts of the field. He 
told the men how proud the people at home were of them; that 
the soldiers in France had accomplished the high purpose of the 
American people which they set out to accomplish ; that there 
was unity among those who were to reap the rewards of victory ; 
and that he was proud to claim comradeship with men who had 
shown such gallantry and had done so much in France. 

At the conclusion of the speech a mounted bugler called 
"attention" and the magnificent General Headquarters Band 
played the Star-Spangled Banner, after which, in accordance 
with the predetermined plan, the battalion passed in review, 
companies passing in company front in close column. 

There was mud and the field was irregular, but the passing 
troops were good to look upon, and the President was observed 
to applaud as the First Battalion passed. Later General Pershing 
sent the following telegram congratulating the division on its 
representation : 

"Commanding General, 

"80th Division, Amcy-le-Franc. 
"As Commander in Chief I wish to congratulate the Division 
on the splendid showing made by the troops representing the 
Division in the review given for the President of the United 
States at Humes, France, December 25, 1918. 

"Pershing." 

On its way back the battalion stopped at Le Trecy for lunch, 
after which it reimbussed again, and on Christmas night, in a 



184 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

real Christmas snow, reached "home" and a Christmas supper 
that had been prepared by the cooks who had been left behind. 

The trip to the great review was an interesting one that served 
to break the monotony of daily life at Molesme and thereabout, 
and we came back, I believe, more contented and, certainly, more 
determined to face the prospect of a long wait with greater cour- 
age, and to make use of the time to good advantage. It was 
apparent that our stay there would last perhaps three months, 
and I so announced to the men at Christmas. This was a long 
time, in which much good might be achieved or much evil done, 
amongst a thousand men naturally predisposed to be discon- 
tented, with the excitement of war over, and waiting only for 
relief from the inconvenience and hardship of the life that they 
were leading, and to get back home to those they wished to see. 
Our thoughts, therefore, turned always in the direction of keep- 
ing the bodies of the men healthy, and getting their minds off 
their troubles, and getting their thoughts on to something that 
was beneficial. 

It shall be my purpose, therefore, to set down some of the 
things we did at Molesme with these purposes in view. 

First of all I must speak of the weather thereabout. It was 
horrible after Christmas, rain for about thirty days, which caused 
the Laigne River to overflow and flood the drill ground along its 
banks, then freezing for about the same length of time, which 
caused the hills to be clothed in white, and our erstwhile drill 
ground to become a skating pond, and then the thaw-out in March 
with rain and mud and wind and everything. 

No wonder in such a season as this the minds of men and 
officers alike should have been inclined to indoor work, although 
the outdoor work was not neglected as I shall show hereafter. 

"THE BATTALION REVIEW" 

I remember shortly after we came back from the great review 
at Humes, it occurred to me that a battalion newspaper would be 
a splendid thing to interest the men, and in the second or third 
week of January there was brought out, under the direction and 
supervision of Lieutenant Schwartz, the first issue of the "Bat- 
talion Review." The first issue contained six pages but the seven 
succeeding weekly issues contained eight pages. 

The purpose of the paper was set out in the second issue as 
follows : 

"Its object and purpose can be served if, during your 
stay on this side of the water, it can interest and amuse you 
by keeping you in touch with the athletic and social life of 
the battalion, by giving you a glimpse of what is going on at 
home and elsewhere in the world, and, best of all, this paper can 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 185 

be made a source of real pleasure and pride to every member of 
the command, as well now as in the years to come, and to those 
at home who are most interested in us, by making it a means of 
recording in lasting and convenient form, some, at least, of the 
many events of great historical interest in which the men of the 
battalion have participated, and in which the battalion has played 
such a conspicuous and honorable part." 

This was the first enterprise of its sort, so far as I know, ever 
undertaken by a single battalion, and it was an ambitious under- 
taking when one considers the difficulties of printing and com- 
munication and transportation in the area in which we were 
located. It is to the enterprise and unbounded enthusiasm of 
First Lieutenant Leon Schwartz that I am most indebted for the 
complete success of the splendid enterprise. He took hold of it 
from the first and continued to manage it to the last, collecting 
data and information from the men and officers, and contributing 
himself no small amount of the reading matter, and, indeed, 
sometimes going so far, in difficult situations, as to take hold of 
the actual printing of it at the shop at Troyes, and in setting up 
some of the type and reading the proof. It would be both tedious 
and uninteresting to set down here the many matters discussed 
in the issues of the Battalion Review; the eight issues are them- 
selves the best history of the paper, and the man of the command 
who does not possess the series to preserve always in his memory 
the precious recollection of the things they connote is very unfor- 
tunate. It is sufficient to say that the paper admirably served its 
purpose; men waited for it every week and devoured every word 
of its contents, and the special feature of a blank space on the 
editorial page for the purpose of writing home and sending along 
the paper with all the news it contained was used by hundreds 
of the men weekly ; and the short history of the battalion which 
it contained in continued form revived memories and provoked 
discussion and stimulated a new and unusual interest in the 
history of the activities of the companies and the platoons. 
Indeed, on winter nights many a tale of great deeds done was 
told around the great fireplace in billets, and it was a veritable 
renaissance of historical recollection, and many men and officers 
were writing history. 

But the Battalion Review merely served as a means of com- 
munication and a stimulus to the activity of men's minds. There 
were the schools in each company which we conducted from 1 :00 
to 2 :30 each afternoon. Every man in the battalion enrolled in 
those schools voluntarily, and it was a source of regret always 
that details of one sort and another prevented some men from 
attending them. There were schools for those without previous 
schooling and for men speaking only foreign languages, there 



186 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

were schools for those with Grammar School educations, teach- 
ing History, Civics, English and the other common branches, and 
finally there were schools for men with High School or College 
training. I felt at the time and still feel that perhaps no one single 
experience in the Army, not even excepting the spirit of humility 
and of fellowship and service that comes from comradeship in 
battle, has contributed so much to the mental and moral improve- 
ment of the soldiers in the Army of the Great War as the schools 
that were conducted in the dull days of the winter months of 
1919. Most men cannot tell, or even imagine, the effect, or the 
far-reaching results, of this training, especially of the beginnings 
of education that we were able to give men who had never had 
the beginnings of education before they came into the Army. 

SOCIAL CLUBS 

There was an effort also to stimulate the social energies of the 
men, and the Non-Commissioned Officers' Clubs and clubs of 
various sorts were established in which there were debates and 
discussions upon various subjects, and where men met from time 
to time for social intercourse, and now and then for a spread, 
with a wild boar or a goose or two, on festive occasions, to take 
the monotony out of the issue ration, and with a bottle or two 
besides. Credit for this is principally due to First Lieutenant 
Charles S. Garner of "B" Company, who had conceived the idea 
of a Non-Commissioned Officers' Club and established the first 
one over the Estimanet of a little Frenchman they called Gyp the 
Blood. They decorated this place up with pictures and flags 
and bunting, and what not, and arranged it with chairs and tables 
so that it presented the air of a real club. 

And the officers had their club, too, in the school building at 
Molesme, where we had two rooms, a little anteroom in which 
was served "soft" drinks, nothing stronger than Eau de Vie 
allowed, and cigars and cigarettes, and a large club room fixed 
up with tables and chairs, and with the walls decorated with Lieu- 
tenant Garner's magnificent collection of etchings and French 
posters of rare and artistic beauty, and things of that sort. It 
was here that the officers met three times a week to discuss mat- 
ters of professional or historical interest, and I think that during 
the season of the Club's activities we discussed everything in the 
category of human activities. I set down here a copy of the 
weekly program for February 3d which I picked out of my 
collection at random : 

"Monday, February 3d, the Medical Officer on 'Debugging 
and Delousing.' 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 187 

devoted considerable time nn/ tuJ ^^^"wing that the officers 
intelligence, in thd 'V^'^ation '""'"'' °' " S^'^' "'^'^ °' 

in an area richrn'd HZt tahTtor cT^e're T' 17 ""f, 'T'" 

of.heRo^,ar*„t:st'a:,dcS!:a.'?:fr' '"' """"« '"^ '■"- 
HISTORICAL MOLESME 

namfarfrri;a:fas"lo;^A°D"^''T,"f^^ ""''- ''^ P--"' 
before thJt^,TG%ltm;!n''t.i^7f'^' ^''>'i'"' '°"S 
where apart of Molesme ZZlnd^ vtL'^^'lTlno^T''''' 
road and anc ent niVrp? r.f t^^f^^ j- ^^"t=^s oi an old Roman 
land attest deruh of li^lT'^ d.scovered in cultivating the 
modern histonca in eresl in \fi?™ '° "TT'y- Of principal 

tery. establ.shTd in e .h Centerb;' ir^Zf^'r '^°"'^- 
founder and iirst Abbot Of ,1,"^ ^ '^°''^'''' "'''° "as its 
buildings which oled a p^rt o ,bT"'""'^ °"'^°™ °^ "« 
ren,ai„?, but this buildtg vSh i?s ' acefu'f'2 i''"'''"';°t,"°" 
arches testifies not only tS the beautf buf o Z ''"d dehcate 

of buildings that fornLl the^rigl^^l'rbrey'.'^Th: bontoTst'' 
a^s "e?c",K:rera'ra^ "? ""/"«" ''- ^'-.^t 'o 
and there ato n ay be een thrS th°e f' T'T\ '"""^^^^^Y. 

S"Thtd^^re^-*-«°- 

we lad our^^;iL*S:,°: tllTtitr"' r/"^. ™'"^- '" «>-h 
borne an ancient monastery or as,^r»? ''",""« "' """^ ""« 
passages remain to this d,v Tf ; i ' ?■'■ '^^"'^'"s of hidden 
stood with am mber of H/fri. "" "■^'',""'" "'" St. Valentine 



188 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

resolved to take the vows of celibacy, and the disconsolate bride- 
to-be was compelled to return home on the arms of her father. 
Valentine was later canonized as a Saint, and he is buried in the 
little town of Griselles about ten kilometers South of Molesme, 
and his vault, plainly marked, may be seen at the ancient chapel 
at that place. 

Of unusual historical interest also are the ruins of the ancient 
Roman city of Lundunum, situated on the crest of the hill a few 
hundreds yards above the town of Vertault, where "C" Company 
was located. I spent many an interesting hour walking over this 
ancient place and looking at the ancient ruins dug up by enthusi- 
astic historians in the middle of the last century. Lundunum was 
said to have been built in the third or fourth century, and flour- 
ished as a great city during the period of Roman colonization of 
Gaul, and for many years thereafter. It was known far and wide 
for the magnificence of its baths and its public buildings. Indeed, 
many of its walls are visible now, and capstones and pieces of tile 
roof are visible to the eye, and I recall in the little town of Ver- 
tault at the foot of the hill many of the great Roman stones, some 
of them carved with beautiful designs, have been used in the 
construction of the so-called modern buildings, with little notion 
of their great historical value. 

Perhaps of most historical interest in that part of France is a 
town situated about thirty miles southwest of Molesme called 
Le Laum-Alise. Upon the hill adjacent to this place Vercin- 
getorix, the king of all the Gauls, was besieged by Julius Caesar 
who, in the process of Roman subjugation, used a system of 
trenches aggregating fifteen miles in length. Upon the capture of 
this great king the seal of Rome was fixed upon Gaul and the 
Roman colonization of Gaul began and continued for the suc- 
ceeding four centuries. Students of history interested in this siege 
may read the particulars as set down in Caesar's Commentaries on 
the Conquest of Gaul. 

Is it any wonder then that, living amongst scenes so rich in 
historical interest, we should have probed the French inhabitants 
for history and tradition and should have rummaged amongst old 
books by the fireside at night? In these processes, I confess, 
we whiled away many an hour of the time. 

But there were other things to do at Molesme, some of them 
commonplace and many of them novel and interesting. For my 
own part it was interesting to play the part of Battalion Com- 
mander in a small town. There was the regular work, of course, 
the drills, the schools, the administrative work and all that ; but 
in addition there were the cases to be tried, and we always held 
court on Saturday night, perhaps to make it more realistic, and 
one must be chief of the Fire Department and make rules for 
the prevention of fire, and chief of police and close up the saloons 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 189 

in case they sold cognac or rum to the soldiers, as I had to do in 
the case of Monsieur Maire, and chief store keeper and run a 
Post Exchange, and do many little odd jobs of that sort. 

But men's bodies must be looked after as well as their minds, 
and it was a situation in which perfect condition of body was 
essential to a healthful state of mind. 

THE GREAT "BATTLES OF PEACE" 

First of all there was the question of outdoor exercise which 
was not a simple one, especially during the rainy season and the 
freeze-up, but the army solved it in the usual military way by 
orders that required all men to be out of doors all the forenoon, 
and neither rain nor snow nor sunshine made any difference. In 
order to accomplish these results there were the inevitable drills, 
of course, and the reconnoissances and maneuvers. Who will 
ever forget the maneuvers we had at Molesme? A description 
of the orders issued and the activities of the First Battalion over 
the hills and valleys and through the woods around Molesme 
would sound like a rehearsal of the great Meuse-Argonne battle. 
Usually some Orderly would rush in late at night with an order 
reading as follows (I pick this order out from among a great 
number in my files) : 

"1. Strong enemy bands in Villedieu and Molesme. They 
have plenty of machine guns and the paths and approaches from 
the east and south are well guarded. Armed patrols have been 
active. 

"2. The attack will start at 9:00 o'clock. The First Battalion, 
assumed to be marching from Griselles, will clean out those vil- 
lages and environs on the morning of the 31st of January, 1919, 
commencing along the road from Larey and working north 
between the Griselles-Les Riceys Road and Grid Line 250." 
and so on. Who would ever have suspected that strong bands 
of the enemy were lurking in the midst of our innocent-looking 
places of abode, or concealing themselves in the apparently harm- 
less grids on the map that we carried in the pocket. I recall the 
very day we "solved" the problem I have mentioned above : 
the freeze was on and the whole world was clothed in a mantle 
of white, and the roads and paths around Villedieu craunched 
beneath the feet of marching troops. This was the day that "A" 
Company was held up by strong machine gun nests in its front, 
and I moved "B" Company ahead and swung "C" Company to 
the left and flanked the enemy's guns, executing the same move- 
ment that General Brett had executed so successfully with the 
319th Infantry in our front on the 1st of November. 



190 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

And there were many other bloodless battles about Molesme. 
One day we outposted the place and defended it against a supe- 
rior force, the next day we were the superior force and broke 
through our defense of the day before, and the third day having 
broken through, we convoyed a train to Villedieu, in the mean- 
time taking on all comers in a rear-guard action. We wound up 
always with a critique, sometimes in the open and sometimes in 
the quiet seclusion of the Officers' Club. 

Nor will any man of the battalion be likely to forget the day 
of the "Brigade Maneuver," in which an attack was launched 
against Channes and neighboring towns, or the march of twelve 
kilometers through the early morning snow and the cold four- 
hours' wait in the woods (because we were the reserve), only to 
be marched back home after the fight was won by other troops. 
It was always a part of those "problems" for men to cuss (and 
there were many who were post-graduates in the art), because 
the men could not understand the rhyme or reason for such 
exertion ; but the purpose of those higher up seems to have been 
to keep the men in the open at least one half the day, no matter 
what the weather, and they were wise in this, but many unit 
commanders could, of course, have handled their outfits with 
greater benefits from the outdoor life. 

And while men must get outdoor exercise they must be kept 
clean also, and this was no small job at Molesme and thereabout, 
especially because of the little enemy of all mankind and the 
soldier in particular, the cootie, which had come with us out of 
the line and had thrived wonderfully and multiplied rapidly on 
the two-meal daily ration that the American soldier gave; so 
that even at the beginning of February he was still with us in 
great and increasing numbers. 

COOTIES 

This unfortunate condition was due primarily to a lack of 
underwear for the men. In order to get rid of this pest men must 
bathe and change their underwear and boil the dirty stuff to kill 
the little bug that sticks to the underwear, but men could not take 
ofif their underwear in the dead of winter unless they had other 
underwear to put on. Up to the last of January it had been 
impossible to secure from the Quartermaster Department any 
underwear with which to change the suit that had been issued to 
the men in December, notwithstanding the persistent efifort on the 
part of my Supply Officer and myself, beginning in the early part 
of December and continuing therefrom on many occasions to 
secure the stufif. I attribute this situation to the Division Quar- 
termaster, who apparently did not secure the stuff with which to 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 191 

supply the men. Indeed, some one seems to have been asleep at 
the Division Headquarters, some one charged with the duty of 
anticipating and supplying the needs of the men ; and the Quar- 
termaster Department — so far as my experience went — never 
woke up except for a moment or two now and then when prod- 
ded so as to make sleep uncomfortable. Indeed to my mind there 
has never been any system shown in the distribution of clothing 
and equipment. A commander was never able to tell with any 
certainty what he could depend on in the way of supplies, and 
the amount of supplies and equipment that an officer could get 
for his men frequently depended upon that officer's popularity, or 
energy, or upon proximity to the depot of supplies, or upon trans- 
portation, or some similar accidental or incidental circumstance, 
and not upon any business or scientific principle of apportioning 
equipment and clothing to the units in proportion to their size or 
needs. Finally, during the first week of February, after consid- 
erable discussion of the matter, in correspondence and otherwise, 
and after many complaints, we secured underwear, and the Engi- 
neering Department constructed a delousing machine, and the 
little enemy was almost completely routed. 

I must say, however, on behalf of the Quartermaster Depart- 
ment, that rations were always intelligently handled, and they 
were supplied to us, whether in the front line or in a back area, 
always in the quantities allowed by the regulations and in fair 
condition and due time. Notwithstanding my confidence in this 
branch of the Quartermaster Department, we established at 
Molesme a system of marking down each day the rations drawn, 
and keeping account by ounces of each item received, and check- 
ing up, so as to see that the men got what they were entitled to; 
and the rations received according to these figures always slightly 
exceeded the amount allowed, with the exception of candy, which 
we drew only at such times as a quantity was received, which was 
very seldom. Men did not feed well in the sense that most men 
are accustomed to be fed at their homes in civil life, but as army 
life goes their food was substantial and nutritious and the Mess 
Sergeants of my four companies by long experience had become 
accustomed to so handling the rations as to give as much variety 
as possible. 

FRENCH INHABITANTS 

I cannot leave Molesme without saying a word about the 
French people whom we met there. Of course each man had his 
own angle of approach and his point of view, and each man 
formed his own opinion — and expressed it too, for that matter. 
I do not speak for the men, but for myself. It was not a typical 
place in which to form the best judgments of the French people. 
It was a little dingy village of simple folk who had lived there 



192 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

from generation to generation, with no excitement to stimulate 
and no opportunities for development, as we Americans think and 
speak of opportunities in America. Perhaps for this reason we 
were wont to regard the French people there as parsimonious and 
close and all that sort of thing, because means of accumulation of 
property were not at hand and they valued little things that we 
would have thrown away. As a result they never failed to file a 
claim if somebody broke a paling off a fence or used an iron pot or 
made a path across a pea patch. Perhaps this was merely an 
out-cropping of a very essential habit of economy on the part of 
the French. It may be truly said that a Frenchman can live 
off of what an American throws away. 

There were out-croppings, too, even in this little village, of 
the characteristic politeness and courtesy of the French, as well 
as of the ever-present artistic taste and temperament in every 
department and activity of their life — artistic not only in that 
which appeals to the eye, but artistic in the things that go to make 
up the daily economies and necessities of life. 

It is a pity that more of our men did not have an opportunity 
to see France as I saw it, and as many who went on leave to 
Paris and Tours and Rouen, and other places of real beauty in 
France, saw it, and to appreciate in their essential application the 
beautiful temperament and spirit, the splendid virtues, and the 
glorious history and traditions of the French people. Many of 
our men who go back home will think, unfortunately, that 
Molesme is France. But Molesme was no more France than 
Podunk is America. For my own part, after seeing Paris and 
Tours and Rouen and Dijon and many other of the really beauti- 
ful places in France, and after becoming really acquainted with 
the habits and customs of her people, I have learned to entertain 
a most extravagant admiration for the French people. We phleg- 
matic Anglo-Saxon people cannot but admire the spontaneous 
vivacity of the French — their ever present joy in living, their 
irrepressible courage and hope even under the most trying and 
difficult circumstances and, too, their sincerity, their utter frank- 
ness with themselves and with others, and their utter lack of 
self-consciousness. I recall at Revigny, on our way out of the 
line, I was billeted over night with a French family, and there 
was there a very beautiful girl of about fourteen years of age. 
We marveled at her beauty — she resembled the inspired features 
of the eternal Joan of Arc. We spoke about her great beauty 
frankly in her presence ; she stared at us with her wonderful eyes 
— with no embarrassment, no self-consciousness — but regarded 
her beauty as a thing that had been the gift of God to be admired 
by all, and without credit to herself. I was speaking on one 
occasion to a French lady about the custom in America of hang- 
ing up mistletoe at Christmas time and of kissing the first young 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 193 

lady who passed under it. She said in the utmost frankness: 
"Ah ! Monsieur, pas besoin pour le gee en France," which, being 
interpreted, means that there is no necessity for mistletoe in 
France; by which she meant that if two young French people 
desire to kiss each other there is no need of subterfuge. 

The French worship nature as truly to-day as they did in the 
days of Druidism; they worship the beautiful in nature and any- 
thmg to them that is not natural— anything that has in it an ele- 
ment of pretense or of fraud, or that is "put on" as we Americans 
say— they despise and reject, as in conflict with the essential 
enjoyments and economies of life. However, this attitude toward 
thmgs— because it conflicts with certain notions that prevail 
among other peoples of the world— has given rise to the notion 
that the French people are immoral. I think this is a false accu- 
sation. 

Some men will go back to America— men who have seen on 
this side of the water only what they have been looking for— 
with a bad report about the women of France. I have no such 
report to make. They have appealed to me as possessing in a 
very high degree a sense of service and a courage to act in the 
most difficult situations that cannot be surpassed in the whole 
world. When we went to northern France in the summer of 
1918, everywhere the fields were being tilled, the shops were being 
run, and the activities of daily life were being carried on by the 
women of France, and this in addition to their household duties. 
There was not an able-bodied Frenchman anywhere to be seen • 
they were all in the Army. And this spirit and this competence 
was not merely the creature of the accidental stress of the times • 
it was the normal character and life of the French women being 
put to the test — they were doing what a long history of accus'^ 
tomed and accepted habits of life enabled them to do always— to 
serve. But this sense of service on the part of the French women 
has never placed them in any way upon a basis of servants as 
we speak of servants in America. The French wife is a real 
partner in the social and business life of her husband. She has 
earned the right to be. Even in the laws of France this real part- 
nership is reflected— because in the French law, unlike the laws 
of England and America, the French woman is entitled to one- 
half of the property accumulated during the marriage. I cannot 
refrain also from speaking about the complete unity in the familv 
ties amongst the French, and the sacredness of their hearthstones. 
They do not seem to have broken away from the ancient notion 
of the obedience of children and respect for the head of the 
house. I was billeted for a number of months in the home of 
M. Gillimardi at Molesme. There lived with them a married 
daughter who had two children of her own, but she was as obedi- 
ent to her father as her children were to her ; the notion of obedi- 



194 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

ence and respect for the head of the house was not lessened by 
the assumption of other and new responsibiHties. I think this 
notion prevails throughout France. The French people are 
great home lovers. It has been said that there is no word in the 
French language that corresponds to our word "home." Whether 
this is true or not, there is a sense of obligation and an appre- 
ciation of the hearthstones of France that I am confident is not 
surpassed in the whole world. 

DEPARTURE FROM MOLESME 

But I am digressing too much. I must get back to Molesme. 
The time approached for us to leave. This is a time that really 
tested our feelings for the French and theirs for us. I ordered 
the companies to fall in a column to march out at 11 o'clock on 
the night of March 28th. I dare say that almost the entire popu- 
lation of the town was down to see us move out, old men and 
women and young women and children. And there was many a 
sad farewell and many a tear-stained eye — and some more inti- 
mate exchanges of farewell — as we gave the word and moved 
out of Molesme that night. 

It was a dark damp night and snow was beginning to fall. I 
went in a car ahead to Poinson — about 8 kilometers distant — to 
make arrangements for entraining the troops when they should 
arrive, as we had received orders to get aboard the train at that 
place. My battalion reached the entraining point about 3 o'clock 
in the morning in a heavy snow storm. After eating "supper" 
that had been prepared by the kitchens which I had sent ahead, 
the men were put aboard the cars. It was the same Poinson at 
which we had entrained on the memorable night of September 1, 
1918, for the front. How memories did crowd upon us ! How 
different now that we were entraining, not for the front and days 
of hardship and danger and maybe death, but for the journey 
home. We pulled out of Poinson at 5 o'clock on the morning of 
the 29th of March. Snow covered the whole earth. It was an 
uneventful journey, and we reached the detraining camp south of 
Le Mans, the embarkation center, on the morning of the 1st of 
April, and from there marched 10 kilometers southward to the 
town of Laigne-en-Belin, which we reached about noon. 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 195 



CHAPTER XII 



Roanoke, Va., June ij, IQIQ. 

I shall not go into detail about our stay at Laigne-en-Belin, 
although we stayed there nearly six weeks. It was a period of 
preparation for the homeward trip. There was equipment to be 
gotten, because every man was to go home fully equipped — and 
there were a few cooties still to be gotten rid of, and it was in 
these occupations that we were mainly engaged, although we had 
time for much baseball. Indeed, with a game of baseball every 
afternoon we were becoming over again quite American, and the 
teams did excellent work, "C" Company winning the champion- 
ship of the regiment. 

I took advantage, while at Laigne-en-Belin, of a fourteen 
days' leave and made a trip to Verdun and over the battle fields 
over which we had fought, and to Paris and to Rouen and to 
London. Upon my return I found that the doctors had been lax 
in the inspections, and that the little cootie, which we thought 
we had completely routed, had returned again to the attack. I 
thereupon initiated daily inspections and kept the baths and 
Serbian barrel going full blast, and soon had the little fellow com- 
pletely routed, so that in the final inspection by the officers from 
the Embarkation Center there was not one single one of the little 
cooties left to tell the gruesome story of their undoing. 

We left Laigne-en-Belin on the 13th day of May, and 
marched to the town of Ecomoy, about 10 kilometers distant, and 
there entrained for Brest. We reached Brest on the morning of 
the 14th of May. This was the great camp at Pontenezen about 
which so much had been written and spoken. We found it a model 
camp with perfect order and system under Gen. Butler, and for- 
tunately we struck the only six sunshiny days of the whole year 
at this place. It was an enormous camp. We were told that there 
were 70,000 men there at the time we reached the place. We 
went, of course, through another process of inspection, delousing 
and debugging and, all matters having been set in order, we 
marched, on the 20th day of May, to the docks at Brest and there 
got aboard the ship. 

THE TRIP ACROSS 

Little need be said of the trip across, as men's minds and 
hearts were many miles ahead of the ship. It was the U. S. S. 
Mobile, one of the ships which had been taken from the Germans, 
and originally one of the Hamburg-American liners. She was 



196 EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 

a 17,000 ton vessel that carried all told 5,000 souls. The weather 
was fair and the trip was without event. 

We pulled into the lower New York Bay on the 30th of May, 
the anniversary of our landing in France. Ah, God ! it was good 
to see America again — the land that had kept our hearts separated 
from our bodies for well-nigh thirteen months ; one dare not 
speak lest his voice betray the emotion that was surging through 
his breast. 

A Committee of Welcome from Pittsburgh came out to meet 
us in a trim little craft that could not come near enough to enable 
us to recognize friends with the naked eye, we were so big and so 
high above the water. But many recognized in the stern of the 
boat the form and figure of Mrs. Christine Miller Clemson, that 
sweet singer whom men had listened to with open mouths — and 
open hearts, too — at Camp Lee, and a cheer went up for her. It 
was a splendid and a touching scene — that welcome — but men 
could not cheer much, their emotions were too deep for that. 

We soon came in sight of the Statue of Liberty, and this called 
to my mind a statement which I had once heard one of the men 
make in France: "If that old girl ever expects to see me again 
she sure will have to turn around." 

At length we reached the great Government piers at Hoboken 
about noontime and went ashore. Here we got lunch and then 
went on to the ferries that took us to the depot lower down, and 
we were soon aboard the train and on our way to Camp Dix, N. J. 

I shall not dwell at Camp Dix ; we dwelt there too long as it 
was. The only good thing done at Camp Dix was to decide that 
we would, at the special invitation of the good people of Pitts- 
burgh, parade there and give them an opportunity to show spon- 
taneously and at once the real feeling of their hearts toward the 
men who had gone out into the great war to fight their battles. 

We got aboard the trains at Camp Dix — it took six trains to 
carry the 320th Infantry and a machine gun battalion — on the 
night of June 4th, and reached Pittsburgh the next morning. It 
was a royal heartfelt welcome from the time we landed until the 
time we left. Although notice had been given that people would 
not be admitted to the railroad yards, the yards were so full of 
people when we got there it was difficult to get the columns in 
order. At length we got in shape and pulled out along the flag- 
bedecked and triumphal way. I recall that when we swung into 
the principal street that leads from the depot, the way was lined 
with beautiful young ladies who handed us flowers as we passed. 
We reached the Syrian Mosque at 10 o'clock, and the men stacked 
arms and fell out. As I passed into the beautiful mosque General 
Brett was at the door and greeted me as I entered. He had come 
many miles to be there with the men and officers who had served 
under him and who idolized him. I recall as I went down into 



EXPERIENCES OF THE GREAT WAR 197 

the basement of the building my eyes met a very beautiful and 
splendid scene — breakfast set for three thousand men. After 
breakfast time was given for visiting among the men and their 
relatives and friends. I was afraid that I was going to be a 
stranger in Pittsburgh, but I was not. Fathers and mothers and 
brothers and sweethearts of the men who had served under me 
made me feel more at home in Pittsburgh, perhaps, than any place 
in the world. And there were many who wanted to know about 
their sons and brothers and sweethearts whom we had left upon 
the fields of France — and my heart went out to them in pity and 
in sorrow. 

Dinner was served at 3 o'clock, and we started out upon the 
great march and review. It was a beautiful sight, the battalions 
in column of platoons, the trim brown warriors proud in their 
crowning climax of the greatest experience of all times. The 
columns moved out at 4 o'clock. It was a triumphant scene from 
the beginning to the end of the five-mile march. Hundreds of 
thousands of wildly applauding people lined the flag-bedecked 
route and acclaimed us as we passed. It was a spontaneous and 
a genuine acclaim, full of emotion, that I shall carry down to the 
grave with me as one of the happiest occasions of my life. 

We reached the west end depot at 6 o'clock and got aboard the 
train. We arrived at Camp Sherman, Ohio, in the early hours 
of the next morning, June 7th, and went into barracks for final 
demobilization. The War was over. 



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